Peace Sign
by komodome
Summary: Izuku Midoriya's life is never easy, in any lifetime. But it wouldn't stand a chance against him otherwise! Now with training from an aspiring hero prior to meeting All Might, he's granted more power than before, and even more responsibilities. Plus Ultra!(I'm not very good at summaries.)(Stronger Characters!, Multi-Quirk!Izuku, Izuku x Harem)
1. Izuku Midoriya: New Origin

**The following is a non-profit fan-made work of written fiction. My Hero Academia is owned by Funimation, Manichi Broadcasting, Studio Bones, and Kohei Horikoshi. Please support the official release. (And yes, the title is inspired by the Opening Sound Track from the Anime)**

 **I just want to take this chance to make several things clear. First: In the actual series,** _ **Yuuei**_ **was the greatest hero school in Japan. But here,** _ **U.A.**_ **high will be the greatest hero school in the** _ **world**_ **. As part of this, its students will be from** _ **all**_ _ **around**_ **the world, so most of them will have different names and nationalities. I will be presenting those new names** _ **next**_ **chapter, as none of them will even appear here in this one. Or, I can just keep their canon names, and say they're from different countries in spite of their names. Manga writers do it all the time. Seriously, is a little bit of ethnic context such a workload? You can make this choice in the poll on my account.**

 **Second: The outside description said I would be making characters stronger, but this implies solely to the students (Sans Bakugou, to take him down a peg) in order for them to meet world-class standards.**

 **Third: The origins of the names they are given can be found on the Behind the Name site for an international index on names and their meanings (And baby ballot. Yes I looked up baby names, because what's the difference between them and adult names?!).**

 **Fourth: There won't be regular intervals for updating this, since chapters will likely have a varying range of word amounts.**

 **Fifth: Since this is an Izuku x Harem Fic, I'm just gonna identify the girls he romances right away (not necessarily in order):**

 **Ochaco Uraraka**

 **Mina Ashido**

 **Tsuyu Asui**

 **Itsuka Kendo**

 **Mei Hatsume**

 **Ibara Shiozaki**

 **Momo Yaoyorozu (or) Nejre Hado (or) Fuyumi Todoroki (again, this is a poll on my FF account page)**

 **And I'm not gonna change it, I'm not gonna add more each chapter or so, and I'm not taking requests. No sir, no ma'am, this is** _ **my**_ **work, screw you!**

 **And finally, I have a few people I would like to dedicate this to:**

 **My father.**

 **My mother.**

 **My oldest sibling, who has been a source of pride for me since his birth.**

 **And the several Authors who inspired me:**

 **Whackybiscuit (Kind of an Asshole, but hell if his erotic stories aren't quality.)**

 **SevenRenny (Keep playing those heart strings, fam.)**

 ***Aniimeziing (Who wrote the first Izuku x Harem Story I ever read with** _ **Adrenaline**_ **.)**

 ***Darkfire1220 (A noticeably smarter Izuku, a new perspective on Kacchan,** _ **and**_ **a different kind of tragic history? You're** _ **Viridescent**_ **is something else, and so are you.)**

 ***Streggae (Sorry about what I said about you using real characters. You are a master of the FanFic craft. And using actual characters can prove a better idea than using OCs)**

 ***SeerKing (Reviving Lelouch Completely! Hail Zero! Kudos [Also, I was slightly inspired by your idea that Lelouch prepared physically as well as mentally!])**

 ***QuirkQuartz (Who sparked my inspiration for the idea of a hero team with his little bit in Awkward Energy!)**

 ***Thanos Cradik (For express permission to all who read** _ **Quirks for Deku**_ **to use the Quirks you and many others came up with! Many an OC has been birthed! You also inspired the multi-quirk part of this story!)**

 **IcyHeart12 (For his dedication to a single story,** _ **Welcome to Fireblade High**_ **, which will surely turn it into a masterpiece.)**

 **Scandinavian Sensation (There are no words for the heart you put into your works. I salute you, sir!)**

 ***Raeigh (For his unique outlook on One for All in** _ **For Want of Izuku's Toe Joint**_ **, as well as a few other quirks.)**

 **I dedicate this to them, not only to acknowledge their prowess in writing fanfiction, but also to note that I got inspiration for some of the scenes that you will find here from some* of them. I own nothing, save for a few OCs here and there.**

"It's super-nice to meet you." – normal speech

" _Where are you looking?!"_ – speaking with emphasis

 _Is he worried?_ \- thinking

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" - screaming

" _WE'RE A'LL GONNA DIE"_ – Screaming with emphasis

 **"Detroit Smash!"** – special move

" **Hope has arrived! Because _I_ am here!"** \- Buff All Might speaking

{READY? START} – Speaker phone speech (Present Mic, in other words)

 **Anyway, let the adventure begin!**

* * *

Here's the sad truth:

People ... are not created equally. Some people are born with more money, more intelligence, more _power_ than others. In another world people can grow to be young adults, or even become full on grown-ups before having to face this sickening reality. But in this world which we are born, we learn it when we are four years old; the typical age when people find out whether they will be born with power… or without it.

Jukei Ikinuku knows that he was created to be superior to others, yet he does not feel like it, he thinks, walking down the street in jeans, a grey hoodie with red stripes over each shoulder, green Nikes adorning his feet. The power he was born with — his quirk— was only because his parents got together as an obligation to the world: it would be more accurate, he thought idly, sifting a tuft of his unruly brown locks through his fingers, to say that it was an obligation to the government. He knew he was only born because men in suits demanded it. He also knew he should be grateful, regardless. The power to increase strength with punishment _and_ the power to recover from any punishment combined in one body? Power like that should be enough to make anyone feel superior, feel more than equal. But he wished that he could just ... he wished he could just have one person in his life who truly loved him because he was him, regardless of whether they were equal. He knew he shouldn't complain. He would grow up to be an amazing hero one day. His parents had gotten him into UA Academy, the world's greatest school for future heroes, on a recommendation. His teacher knew he would be capable of great things! So why? Why did he feel so empty?

Because his powers were the only reason anyone praised him.

He wished he had one friend, one person who could admire him for another reason. So when he's walking down the street one day and his grey eyes see a young boy no older than four lying on the ground, he decides this is a chance. Sure, he's not a classmate, nor is he very strong if the bruises he is covered in are anything to go by, but it's worth a shot. Maybe this way someone can look up to him just for being there. He makes his way over to the child. Seeing him up close, he has confirmed that the child is indeed covered in bruises. Among the child's other features are green eyes. Some freckles dotting his cheeks, and a curly mop of black hair with green highlights make up his other features. It also seems that he has not taken notice of Jukei. He is simply staring up into the sky.

He decided it was time for the child to take notice.

"Hey there, kid." Well, first greeting could be a lot worse. The kid looks up, finally noticing the – by comparison - enormous figure hovering over him. Shunsuke can't help but notice how the kid's eyes seem to trade exhaustion for nervousness. He answers by reaching out with a scarred hand, offering to help the younger one up. The child raises himself off his back, looks at Jukei's outstretched hand, then to Jukei, looks back at the hand, then- nervously, it seemed- grabbed Jukei's hand, which quickly lifted him off the ground. The boy dusted himself off, then quickly looked around himself, probably trying to think of what to do next, Jukei mused. Then he looked up at Jukei, and spoke in the purest voice Jukei swore he ever heard.

"H-hello," he started shyly. He seemed unsure of how to proceed. Jukei wasn't going to hold it against him, because talking to a stranger of a whole different age group? He wasn't sure what to do either. That didn't stop him.

"Well, kid, you seem like you've had a rough day." Oh, that totally wasn't insensitive!

The child didn't quite seem offended. Of course, he didn't seem to want to talk about it either. If anything, he seemed like he wanted to avoid the topic.

"Oh, uh… i-it's nothing. I…I was just playing with my friends and I… fell." That lie was entirely too obvious, and they both knew it. It only motivated Jukei to press further. "Oh, really? And what were you and your friends doing? And where are they now?"

"Um, hehe, th–they went home now." He lied clumsily "I d-decided to s-st-stay behind and r-rest, and then go home by myself."

Jukei's focus went to the kid's right arm. "Really?" He said. Well, you must've landed on some pretty hot rocks. They look like they left some pretty nasty _burn marks_."

Izuku Midorya knew the game was up just like that, but he didn't want to burden this… _stranger_ … with his problems. What was he supposed to do? He had to find a way out, he _had_ to! Before he realized it, tears began flowing out of his eyes, and he began to sob uncontrollably. He couldn't do it anymore. He had to put up with so much. He was clumsy and untalented, his own friend hated him, and he would never get his quirk. He had put up with it for so long and now he couldn't do anything but cry, because it was all just too much to bear.

Jukei was taken aback when the child in front of him started to cry, but he wasn't exactly surprised. That did not mean he wanted to deal with it. In fact, it was this exact situation he had been hoping to avoid, _because he didn't know what to do_. He knew how to take down a villain who was armed when he was not. He knew how to rescue civilians from a burning building. He knew how to one-shot a villain with a hostage. But at the end of the day, he could not bring true comfort to children like other heroes, for he did not know how to stop their tears. So he did what he could do: he crouched down in front of the boy, and wrapped his arms around him. He honestly didn't know what he was doing. His parents did this from time to time, when he cried, so he just did what came to him. He didn't stop there either, stroking his back with all the gentleness he could muster.

"Shhhhh." He whispered into his ear, resting his head on top of Izuku's. "It's alright. Let it out. Let it all out." He honestly hoped this was working, because he had literally nothing else.

Izuku did not know what was going on. First this strange teenager comes along, and then actually _talks_ to him, of his own volition, and without trying to hurt him. What makes it strange is that only his parents and his teachers ever did any of these things, and he was certain that this young man in front of him did not fit under either of these categories. Then he helps him, asks him _what was wrong with him_ , and was now hugging him, like a hero trying to comfort a civilian. But he didn't really care right now. All he wanted was to cry into the comfort offered by this man. So he quickly wrapped his small arms around the man's front and sobbed openly into his torso. Nothing mattered right now. His world had crumbled on top of his head, and all he really wanted was to cry.

And he did. For the next several minutes, all he did was cry until he was exhausted. When the older of the two no longer heard any sobbing, he ever-so-slightly pulled away in an attempt to get a look at the green-haired toddler's face. "You feel better?" He asked quietly. When the small one backed away to face his newfound helper, Jukei cringed at what he saw. There were clear red, puffy rings around his eyes. This child wasn't just a normal, childish kind of upset, he realized. There was something beyond whatever abuse he had clearly faced, something that was still bothering him right now, and had plagued him very recently. Jukei suddenly felt even more motivated to help this child, however he could. It wasn't any of his business, but being able to help someone just because you wanted to… it was refreshing, to say the least.

With that in mind, he decided to pry just a little more.

"Do… do want to talk about it now?"

The child hesitated for a moment, before nodding reluctantly and taking Jukei by the hand. He needed to find someplace where he was certain he could talk without being heard by anyone else. Eventually they found a park bench, and Izuku sat down with the brunette on his right. They sat down, and for a couple seconds, no one said anything. Jukei decided he should say something to encourage the boy to speak.

"So…" he started off awkwardly "what's wrong?" He would admit he didn't know if there was anything he could do, anything he could say to make the kid feel better. He had never been subject to the particular torments that the younger boy probably had.

Izuku Midoriya knew there were many things he could answer with, naturally because there were many things wrong, but he needed to start with the very thing that started it all. "I'm… I'm quirkless." He answered ashamedly. Jukei couldn't help turning quite suddenly to face Izuku fully. He could swear he might know exactly what the problem was already, and the kid had only said one thing. One little thing that meant a lot in today's world. He often heard of quirkless individuals who were unfulfilled because they would have rather had careers as heroes, or they just wanted to have something special. Not only were they denied this, they didn't fit in properly. Jukei had only imagined what it was like for those without power. Was this it? Was this what it was really like?

"I wanted to be a hero, but I can't do that if I don't have a quirk to save people with. The doctor said that my pinky toe having two joints instead of one is a sign that I'm never gonna have a quirk. So I can't be a hero. And… a-and it's not just that. I-*sniff*-I lost my friend because of it. He doesn't want to be with a useless, quirkless _deku_." The fact that he had lost his friends came as no surprise at this point. Quirkless kids were treated like second-class citizens by their peers, and said "peers" often considered associating with them to be costly to their image. But what really caught his attention was the last thing he had said. Deku? As in… someone who can't do anything? Judging by how he had used the name, the kid had been called that for some time. This ran deeper than _just_ his quirklessness.

"He even t-tried to beat someone up. He w-wants to be a hero too, but… but heroes aren't supposed to do that, right? They're not supposed to beat people up, unless they're villains. But he-he made him cry. Heroes are supposed to stop people from crying, and… and he…he just…just…"

Jukei only half paid attention as the green-haired toddler broke down into tears once more. He was at a loss. He really wasn't sure what to do, even when it sank in that this child, who clearly wanted to be a hero so much that he would never settle for anything else, not only was incapable of ever achieving it, but had also been abandoned by the ones he called his friends. He was lost as for what to do, he was stressed because he had confirmed he could not offer true solace, but in the midst of it all, he was _angry_. He was angry at himself for being so incapable, he was angry at the little monster who decided belittling him for what he didn't have, he was mad at himself for being unable to do anything, but he was also angry about being right. This kid was born with less, left wanting more. He was born unequal. These were the kinds of people he did not know how to truly help. And when he looked at this child, who was suffering at too young an age, it only made him feel worse. He desperately wished there was something he could do, but he could think of nothing.

"But.. even so…" Izuku suddenly spoke up, recovering from his tears "I'm not gonna give up." Jukei jerked hi head quite quickly to face the kid. "I don't care if Kacchan says I can't do it. I'll become a hero, even if I don't have a quirk. I'll find a way, even if it takes all I got." Izuku turned to Jukei with a determined expression. "I'll do just like All Might does, and keep smiling, even when things get bad. If I gave up here, I wouldn't be a hero at all. So I'll keep going until I make it there, no matter what."

Jukei was in awe. How was this kid… just a kid? How could someone his age be capable of giving himself hope like that? Jukei wanted to think it was just denial, that he was really broken up, but the tyke just sounded so…genuine. The brown-haired hero in training wouldn't deny wondering if the kid could actually do it. Could one really be a hero without a quirk? He had known of an upperclassman of his who would be going by the name Eraser head, who's quirk allowed him to erase the quirks of others, but when he thought about it in depth, Jukei was well aware that it afforded him zero combat or rescue prowess. He was able to take on other villains due to his skills and on-hand tools. Suddenly, a quirkless hero didn't seem so far-fetched. He honestly wished he could be there to watch the kid pull it off…

And then it hit him: what if this was it? What if this was he had been looking for? What if this was what they _both_ needed?

Jukei, as strong as he was, was alone. And his child, tenacious as we was, was in need of support, and a friend, just as Jukei himself was. Maybe Jukei could at _least_ guide him part way, and it would be something they could bond over. What if this was... dare he say it... an act of fate? In any other event, he would have _very_ vocally scoffed at the idea, because in a world where genetically passed superhuman abilities were the norm, beliefs of such wild phenomena were easily dismissed. But in this moment, he couldn't help but feel that they were meant to meet and helped with each other's problems. He didn't think about it too much. Instead he took this rare - almost nonexistent - opportunity and decided to make the young boy and offer that would help them both.

He turned to face him, and put hit a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. The child suddenly turned to face him, his eyes dried of tears.

"Tell me kid," Jukei started. "What would you say if I told you that you could indeed be a hero even if you don't have a quirk?"

Izuku was definitely confused now. He almost thought he hadn't heard the teen correctly.

"W-What do you mean sir?" He asked.

"I mean exactly what I say." Jukei replied smoothly. "What would you say if I told you that, regardless of if you had any powers, you really could be a hero?"

Several moments of silence passed before the green-haired child answered uncertainly. "I…I w-would ask… how?"

"I will teach you." he said confidently, his lips slightly rising in a smile "Kid, I am going to make you the offer of a lifetime. Become my student, and I will help you achieve your dreams. I will do whatever I can to help you become a hero."

Izuku stared at the stranger in fascination. Was he serious? They had just met moments ago. Was he really offering this quirkless nobody his assistance?

But in spite of his denial, Izuku could not deny he wanted this. He truly would not give up. If anything, his powerlessness had pushed him to do better. So he decided to quit moping and take up on strangers offer. Now he even had someone to teach him! How could he refuse? With that, he quickly wiped the dried from his eyes, stood up off the bench, clenched his fists, and faced him directly; a determined look that Jukei couldn't help but think suited him far better than the tears.

"Yes." He answered. "Please make me your student."

For the first time since Izuku saw him, Jukei let out a smile, even though it was just a lopsided grin.

"Well then squirt," He said, "I would love to get started right now, but we need to be responsible. I'll have to talk to your parents about this and make sure I have their permission. I can't teach you anything if your parents don't want me anywhere near me."

Izuku nodded in acknowledgement.

"By the way kid if we're going to be working together I need to know your name."

There was a small awkward silence after that before the younger child introduced himself. "M-my name is Midorya I-Izuku."

The older child took that as his queue. So in a rare moment of bravado, he puffed his chest out and cocked a thumb at himself, wearing a large toothy grin. "Nice ta' meet ya, Midoriya-chan," he said, "I'm Ikinuku Jukei, aspiring hero and second-year student of U.A. high school, the greatest hero course school in the world."

* * *

Jukei had never been an especially thoughtful person. His fighting style revolved around him thinking in the instant, never allowing himself any reconsideration of his next move, lest he hesitate. He was not stupid, by any means, or he never would have gotten past the written part of the entrance exam. And he could indeed read an opponent's attack pattern if they took their time to go down.

But in spite of his earlier words, he had no idea what he was going to say to either of Izuku's parents about his little offer. What were they going to say when they found out their four-year-old son had taken an offer from an unruly looking teenager to train under him in ways that would most likely be hazardous and cause him bodily harm? In spite of his obvious hesitance, here he was standing right in front of the door of the apartment belonging to the family of Izuku Midoriya, standing right beside the young boy in question who was currently knocking at the door.

"Mom! Dad!" He called. "I'm home."

From the other side of the door a sweet voice that could only be his mother responded. _"Coming, sweetie!"_ Within a few moments, the door opened to reveal a beautiful slender woman with dark green hair, green eyes and a round face on the other side. This was Inko Midoriya, Izuku's mother.

"Izuku, honey, what are you doing home… so… late…" Inko's motherly question hung in the air unanswered as she finally decided to absorb the site before her.

First, her son was covered in bruises and burn marks.

Second, he was accompanied by a teenager with spiky brown hair and sharp grey eyes that looked at her with apprehension.

Third in spite of his bruises, her little boy seemed excited about something.

Unfortunately the bruises were the only thing that truly registered with her.

"IZUKU!"

She practically threw herself at her baby boy, wrapping her arms around him tightly. She unleashed a barrage of questions and pertaining to his wounds.

"What in the world happened to you, baby?! Where have you been?! Are you OK?!"

Jukei could only look on in slight bewilderment as a worrying mother fussed over her sons injuries. It kind of made him feel worse about his own family predicament since his parents never exactly fussed over him like this. Sure he demonstrated the ability to heal grievous wounds in an instant, but still. Eventually Inko took a moment to notice the young man who had apparently accompanied her son home.

Jukei suddenly back at her like a deer caught in headlights. He coughed into his closed palm and gave awkward greeting "Hello." he said, bowing politely "I am Ikinuku Jukei." He could've sworn he was keeping his voice steady but his knees were trembling visibly like they were about to give out beneath him.

Suddenly, a distinctively male voice called out from inside the apartment.

"Honey! What's going on out there? Is Izuku home?"

Suddenly a man popped into view. If Jukei had to summarize it, the man looked like an adult version of Izuku except without the green hair at the roots. He was tall, definitely at least 6 feet, and his hair was black and curly. His hollowed cheeks pronounced the freckles on his face and he was modestly muscular. The man got a good look at Izuku and all of a sudden he set into worrying of his own following the same pattern as Mrs. Midoriya, except without all of the close contact.

"IZUKU! What happened?! Who did this to you?"

This question set both Izuku and Jukei on edge, as the older of the two new that he would not want to have this talk again. Fortunately, he would be there to support him if they would take notice of him and allow him to be present any longer of course. As if to grant his thoughts the two adults suddenly looked straight at him and he once again felt apprehensive about intruding on their personal life like this, but he was not about back down now

"I am sorry" Inko said. "You seem to have brought our son home to us, but I don't believe we have met. Who are you?"

 _Calm. In control. Tactful. The highest level of "got this."  
_  
"It is nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Midoriya" Jukei said in a forcibly calm tone. "My name is Ikinuku Jukei, and if you would allow me a bit of your time, I have an offer involving your son."

They looked at him suspiciously. It was appropriate, he decided, for a way to regard a teenager who was interested in their toddler child.

"Pardon my asking, young man," Hisashi asked apprehensively, "but what business would you have with our son?"

Jukei could have sworn for a moment that he had his response physically stuck in his throat. "It has to do with how I found your son like this."

* * *

Silence rang throughout the household as the newly addressed parents of Izuku Midoriya absorbed the information received. With a bit of hesitance and some encouragement from Jukei, Izuku told his parents what had transpired a few Minutes prior to coming back home. His parents had been shocked to learn that he was being bullied, and by Katsuki of all people! But they were more shocked when he told them the tale of how he ran into this young man, and how said young man had –apparently- him the offer of a lifetime. And upon hearing the offer, they were sensibly shocked that a high school student was making such a proposal. They weren't quite sure what to think. They were currently sat down, with Izuku between his parents, looking between them hopefully. They continued to sit in silence, watching Jukei appraisingly.

Hisashi was the one to break the silence.

"So," he said, "If I understand correctly, you want to train our son, in spite of – _because of_ – his quirklessness, and you believe you can make him a student worthy of, from what I understand, the greatest hero academy not just in Japan, but the world itself. Am I correct in saying this?"

The addressed student of said school would take to his grave the amount of terror he was feeling in having to face two non-threatening civilians just to ask their permission for teaching rights. He was grateful his teachers weren't here making an exercise out of this; he would be embarrassing himself _and_ them. But the way the kid was looking at him… it pushed him _through_ all that.

"That is correct, sir." He answered, swallowing. "I came across him in the aftermath of a…" he swallowed again "… heated struggle between him and some of his peers." Inko's face fell at the reminder. "I know that it wasn't any of my business, but as the person who found him … lying on the ground like that, I felt like I should have at least helped him up. I didn't think I'd be doing it metaphorically too, at least until I had asked him what was wrong."

Hisashi's face fell, matching his wife's. "I knew their friendship was strenuous at best," he said, "but I didn't think Mitsuki's son would take things _this_ far."

The guest suddenly looked a bit intrigued. "Pardon me for asking, sir, but are you terribly familiar with the boy's – Katsuki's – parents?"

"Oh indeed." This time it was Inko who answered. "Mitsuki and Masaru went to high school with us. We became very close over the years." Her crestfallen look returned "We had hoped it would be the same for our children."

Jukei already regretted what he was about to say. "Sir and Ma'am, I would strongly advise that Izuku have his distance kept from … Katsuki."

Izuku flinched at this. It seemed he wouldn't be allowed to talk to Kacchan anymore.

"I concur, young man." was Hisashi's curt reply. "Now, let's get back to the… other matter."

Ah. Jukei was grateful they hadn't chosen to stray away from that deliberately. "Of course, sir. As I said, I believe I may be able to help him become a hero without a quirk. I myself would not be a very promising individual if I didn't actually know how to fight, and I know a senior student at my school who can deactivate people's quirks by looking at them. I know that sounds effective, and it is, but on its own, it can't help him fight them. He does that with martial arts and whatever gadgets he has as part of his hero costume. I know all this because I have an internship with the same hero as him, and I once asked him about it because I hadn't seen him use it. We ended up discussing it at length."

Jukei paused after this, allowing his audience to soak in the information, before continuing. "His quirk his, at best, a binding that only works when he has his attention is solely on them. He might as well be quirkless. I think that, since your son has no quirk, he can put even more effort into physical training. My dad drops me off at a high-end gym every Saturday after school. I'm sure I could get Izuku a membership when he's old enough. I can't put him through intense training until he's nine, though, if he should choose to start, otherwise it would cause muscle degeneration at the age he is now, effectively doing more harm than good." The parents paled at the idea. "Therefore, I'd simply focus on self-defense arts, find out which would be best for him, and have him learn no more than three." He let out a breath. "Besides physical training, I'd also have him train his mind." At this he looked right at Izuku. "And for that, I'll need him to keep his education up. I'll be keeping standards for him to keep track of his grades by, when the time comes. If he drops below the line that will go up, and it'll go _up_ , believe me, I'm letting him go."

Inko straightened her back and looked at him in approval, while the mentioned toddler seemed even smaller than he already was.

"His academic priorities aside, I'd teach him what I can about strategy, give him some varying mental exercises.

Of course, if I'm going to help him save people, I'll also need to teach him what I've learned about rescue operations. I won't exactly have the USJ at my disposal, but I'll see if I can craft him a proper rescue situation myself, for him to learn from."

Inko couldn't help but interrupt curiously. "Universal Studios Japan?"

Jukei wore an amused look at this. "Unforeseen Simulation Joint. It's a large indoor field meant for training hero students at U.A. in rescue operations. If… when your son gets into U.A., he'll be able to train there himself. His general training will, naturally, become more intense as he grows up, but that's for his own good."

It did not go over Hisashi and Inko's heads that the young future hero before them had just implied that their baby boy would surely get into his school, said to be the best in not just, Japan, but in the entire world. Rumor had it that its students came from places all around the world in an effort to see if they had a shot, and only one in every 300 applicants was accepted. They went through tests that would have been considered life threatening if not for the fact that they happened on a school ground. Rumors also said teachers had free reign to teach their students however they saw fit. It was lost on no one in the room that it included laying their own grounds for expelling students.

And the boy before them studying there now thought their Izuku would make it in.

Inko was indirectly flattered, for lack of a better term. _This young man is so generous. At the very least Izuku would have someone to socialize with, even if he's not the same age._

Hisashi's line of thought was not terribly different. _Keep it up, kid, you're almost there._

It was time, he decided, to address the elephant in the room.

"Tell me, Jukei- It's okay if I call you Jukei, right?"

"Of course, sir."

"Why exactly do you want to…" He was trying to find the right term for it. "… mentor, our son?"

The apparent mentor had spent the entire way walking there expecting, preparing for that exact question, yet he could never really be ready for it. That did not stop him, certainly not with how far he had come. No, he was going to see this through. Breathe in. Breathe out.

"I'm a product of an arranged marriage."

This shocking bit of information had certainly grabbed their attention before, if he didn't have it now. Inko let out a small gasp, covering her mouth with his hands. Hisashi's eyebrows shot up, clearly not expecting this. The boy seemed like a totally normal teen, apart from being a student at the school for the world's finest future heroes. Izuku sat there innocently confused, having no idea of the subject of an "arranged" marriage. Jukei hoped he hadn't spooked them. He needed to confide in someone. After all this time, he needed _someone_ besides his parents to talk to about it.

Jukei decided to continue. "Have either of you heard of quirk marriages?" he asked. Their silence told them that no, they had not. "It started somewhere during the 3rd or 4th generation of quirks. Heroes, particularly those of a higher status, would select a partner just for the sake of having a child with a powerful quirk that was either a variant of their own or a promising combination of the quirks from both partners. When my mother decided she wanted to have her Damage Stock passed on so she'd have a kid to spoil her when she retired, she grabbed onto my father, who's accelerated regenerative quirk would give their kid a way of… recovering from the backlash of the quirk on her side."

Izuku may not have had a lot to go on, but it sounded awful, being put together with someone when you didn't want it. You were supposed to marry someone when you love them! Izuku had a sinking feeling these people didn't really love each other very much.

The adults were just plain shocked. Inko was horrified that two people would try to exploit their children like that. Weren't children supposed to be loved by their parents, that final piece in the concept of love that was family, which one enjoyed the world with? How could they just use him like that? If not for the fact that her family was sitting right there, she would have seized this boy in a hug, trying her damnedest to ensure him that he was more than a tool, to ensure that there was someone out there who loved him, but this was neither the time nor the place.

Hisashi was mulling over this information. He didn't doubt the marriage was likely loveless. Why should the parentage be any different? How was this teenager before them even function right sociality-wise? Was he simply given the right social guidance by one of his parents? If so, it was likely to be the father, since he was dragged into it. Just because he wasn't willing to do it in the first place didn't man he had to spite the child.

"And they did it." Jukei continued "They had the perfect offspring in me, right off the bat. I had both their quirks, exactly like _mommy_ _dearest_ wanted." I took no effort for him to mention his mother with only the most spiteful sarcasm. "For years after my powers manifested, my mother put me through hell just to make I could be good enough, that I had a place among only the best. I could only confide in my classmates during my time at school, but when I found out they basically had a social ranking based on one's quirk, I felt like _I_ was the jerk. Like I was the reason those at the top were putting down those with less power than themselves. I couldn't stand it!"

They could only imagine. Children acted irrationally under peer pressure. They would do whatever it took to fit in, and if they didn't have it in them, they were cast out of the system. No one gave their life any value.

"When I got into U.A., I thought it would be different." Their grey-eyed guest said. "I thought students there would be proud, upstanding servants of society. I was wrong. They were just as self-entitled and greedy as anyone else. It's too bad, really. Even U.A. doesn't seem to have tests for spirit, or most of them would have likely been outed. I honestly wasn't all that upset. I had practically given up. Apart from a few social liberties here and there, I was my mother's puppet. I was no hero. I was nothing."

What the hell was this kid talking about? Hisashi had only wanted to know why the sudden interest in their son. Why did he feel the need to bare this soul to them like this?

"But when I met your son," he said, his tone suddenly shifting, "I saw someone not unlike myself. Someone who was thrown out and locked out, although it was because of something he didn't have, rather than did. But he was still alone. He learned that all people are not equal. I honestly thought it would just be another reminder of how powerless I truly was that…" he turned to look them both in the eye as best he could "… I couldn't do anything."

Inko was grateful he had even taken the time to consider it. Most other children just ignored him completely. Hisashi wasn't sure, but he thought he could see where he was going with this.

"But when he said he wouldn't give up… it made me wonder… What if he was the friend I was looking for? What if I could do something to help, and be closer to someone?"

Inko looked at him with a surprised look. Yeah, Hisashi thought. He figured so.

"I need a friend who I can rely on o be with me, and he needs to find a way to become a hero… and a friend… and some proper guidance… and a confidence builder… and…" He paused. This wasn't getting him any further as far as he could tell. "I just want so _much_ to help him."

In that instant the brunette did what no one expected. He got up from his chair, got down on his hands and knees before the Midoriyas, and bowed his head to them. Needless to say, they were taken aback by the gesture, but it was clear whatever he had to say he wanted to mean it and _assure_ them he meant it.

"Please, give me this one chance. Your son has a big heart, I can already see that much. If he could have an opportunity to properly train under someone, his dreams could become a reality. Please let me be the one to mold him, to guide him down the path of the righteous. Please let me bring him the strength to help others when they cannot help themselves! Please, let me help him prove to himself that HE CAN BE A HERO!"

And like that, it was done.

"Okay."

Confused by the sudden response, the teen looked up to see Hisashi staring at him with a calm but serious expression, with Inko looking at him in surprise, and Izuku…

Izuku didn't even register his father's statement. He was looking Jukei dead in the eye. The way Jukei was looking at him… it was like no one had even told him before. Not even his own parents.

Did he just become the first?

"I said," Hisashi repeated, "Yes, you have permission train our son to become a hero."

"H-hisashi!" Inko feebly protested. "Didn't you hear what he said? It could be really dangerous! Izuku's just a little boy!"

"I did hear him, Inko." Hisashi replied calmly. "I hear what he said about the risks. I also heard him when he said Izuku could be a hero."

Inko suddenly realized what he was implying. The aforementioned little boy had turned his attention to his father, who was still wearing a calmly serious expression, with shining eyes. His father turned to look back, a solemn look adorning his face.

"Son," he said "We – your mother and I – we didn't tell you what you wanted – _needed_ – to hear. And for that, I'm sorry. We failed you as parents." Inko's face fell yet again as she recalled telling Izuku how sorry she was, how she wished things were different. She realized it sounded like she had given up on her little boy. She never wanted him to think that!

"But you…" The father continued, turning to Jukei, "You just said it right now, that he can be a hero. You said what we as his parents didn't have it in us to say. And you said it without too much thought. If you believe he has a chance, then we leave his training to you." Jukei sat up on his knees from his bowing position as Hisashi stood a full height. "You have _my_ permission to help him be a hero." He then turned to his wife. "What about you Inko?"

When everyone looked at her, they realized she was wearing a sad smile. They wanted to believe that was a yes, but Hisashi knew better than to jump to conclusions before his dear Inko confirmed her thoughts vocally. He had learned his lesson! Suddenly, she stood up from her spot on the couch, and bowed.

"Please teach our son everything you can." She said quietly. Jukei wanted to sing. He had their express permission! "But…" her tone turned dark. "If I find that by baby's been crippled or mentally scarred, and you are responsible…" She lifted her head, and suddenly her eyes danced with green fire, and the area around her seemed deathly cold "… you can forget about being able to train _your own self_."

The males in the room trembled, naturally. Jukei was intimidated sure, but he was also in awe of the raw protective aura Midorya-san was emitting. Was this what a real mother was capable of for their child? Sugoi!

"U-u-understood, Midorya-san! No harm will come to Izuku while he is under my tutelage."

She lost the dark aura after that. "Now then," Jukei spoke before turning to Izuku, and kneeling before him, "We need to discuss the specifics of your training. I already went over an overview of what you'll be doing long-term, but we need to discuss what you'll be doing for now. Training will begin every 4:00p.m.-5:00p.m. on Mondays through Fridays and 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays and sundays. We'll need to teach you how to strike someone. You've never actually fought, have you?" Izuku looked at the ground in shame, shaking his head no.

"Well, there's no shame in that. In the years to come, fighting will become second nature to you. We'll start with teaching you how to hit someone. Then we'll move to basic fighting moves; punching, kicking, grabbing, dodging, blocking, and the like. I happen to understand martial arts at a level where I can look at a novice such as you and tell what kind of martial art they've been practicing, how good they are, and what would suit them best. By the time you're nine, I'll have you used to brawling, and I'll have selected three martial arts to teach you. At that point, training will be much more intense. And allow me to reiterate from earlier. You're studies should not have to falter just because you put on a little muscle. In fact, when you're not slamming a dummy or lifting weight, I want you hitting the books. If I find out your grades drop in the slightest in primary school, I'll double your training to help you catch up. That will be a strike, each of which will be a doubling of the last work rate. On the third strike, I'll drop you altogether. Got it?" Izuku paled at the thought of that, but nodded nonetheless.

"Good. When you get to middle school, I'm not allowing _any_ slip ups. Strike one and you're out. Understand?" Even paler than before, Izuku nodded again. "Okay. The fact that you understand all of this speaks a great deal of how sharp you are, so it shouldn't be too hard for you after all." After that, the young mentor stood up on both feet. "So… when do you want to start?"

Izuku, who had spent the entire ordeal in complete silence answered instantly and resolutely. "As soon as I can!"

Jukei grinned. "Well then, today's Saturday. I was just on my way to the gym when I found ya. And the time now is…" He check his watch "… 10:30 p.m. You're already late for your first session." He teased.

"Oh goodness!" Inko panicked, followed by her son. "Izuku, if he's serious, we need to get you to your new training place fast." She turned to the student-teacher. "Ikinuku-kun, where do you train?! I can drive us there!"

You want to find the Seika champions gym. It's a large joint for all types and ages. It's only four blocks away."

"Well we need to hurry if my baby's going to make any progress! Hisashi! Get the car running, now!"

"Yes dear." Hisashi sighed. She still worried too much.

In the middle of all the commotion, Jukei allowed his vision to travel to his young, brand new apprentice. And he was looking back, as smile on his face and his eyes positively shining. It almost seemed like a quirk, but Jukei knew without Izuku saying it that he was indescribably grateful. And it was an unspoken promise that Izuku would not let him down. He could only smile back. Had he just become someone's Hero? He certainly hoped so.

"I see great things for you, kid." He spoke. "Great things."

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that this is the story of how Izuku Midorya became the world's greatest hero.

* * *

 **komodome: Aaaand done. Thanks for considering this story by getting through the first chapter. I didn't mention it earlier when I identified the Harem, but there will be sexual content in further chapters. Because let's face it, every person who reads an M-rated Harem story expects eroticism(that's a word, apparently) at some point. I can't yet tell you for certain when it will be, but I can tell you it will happen. Also, please let me know your thoughts on the whole "new nationalities" bit. It's something I worked really hard on, and I would really appreciate some Input.**

 **Izuku: Oh, a-and If you want, w-w-we'd be okay with dropping the idea. It r-really doesn't make all that much d-d-difference plot wise.**

 **Komodome: Don't just tell them that! Now they'll think they can say what they want about** _ **my**_ **work!**

 **Izuku: Ah! Ohmygosh I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! S-S-Sorry everyone! Just f-forget what I s-s-s-said earlier!**

 **Komodome: *Sigh* There's just no being mad at you is there? I ponder how some people *cough* recovery girl, Nighteye, Aizawa,** _ **Bakugo**_ ***cough* pull it off. Anyway, thanks for reading, please Read and review, and I'll see ya when I see ya.**


	2. Companions Come In Many Colors

**Well it's finally here. Through creativity, hard work, and no small amount of blood, sweat, and tears, I've finally got my second chapter up. For starters, I'll be answering some of my more critical reviews again.**

 **Cadaver1041: Izuku won't be OP. That's partially the reason I made it so his classmates will be stronger too. Also, I created this little plot point where he is fit enough to handle a large portion of the raw power, but instead only controls a small part of it in trade for being able to use the multiple quirks of all of his previous users. That being said, it will be easier for him to attain that larger portion, but he will have to work much harder to attain the rest, and even harder than that to get to the point where he keeps the glow of power beneath his skin (You don't see All Might glowing like that, after all. He has to hide it _somehow_ ). And since you mention it, I did consider keeping Mineta around, just to do this thing based on the Krillin Owned Count that Team Four Star did called the Minoru rekt count (I'm on eleven in canon). I think it's something they would appreciate. But I'm still gonna replace one or two characters on 1-A who aren't qualified to be there so other characters can be put in the classroom, like Ibara Shiozaki, who was SUPPOSED to be there in canon, except Kohei Horikoshi is too much of a lazy shit to draw a bit of vine hair. Who cares if it looks different from the various angles?**

 **What-if Verse: Fair enough. That's a no then. You can't just call them friends because they escaped one life/death situation together, not in _their_ future profession. Honestly, they're all capable of hilarity _without_ him.**

 **A Guest: I made it abundantly clear in the first chapter I'm not altering the Harem. Does no one read the bold print anymore?**

 **Credit for beta-reading goes to Konshiro Crobrasha. Or perhaps I should call him: My Konshiro _Bro_ -basha.**

 **With that said, on with the story.**

* * *

"It's super-nice to meet you." – Normal speech

" _Where are you looking?!"_ – speaking with emphasis

 _Is he worried?_ \- thinking

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" - screaming

" _WE'RE A'LL GONNA DIE"_ – Screaming with emphasis

" **Detroit Smash"** – special move

" **Hope has arrived! Because I am here!"** \- Buff All Might speaking

{READY? START} – Speaker phone speech (Present Mic, in other words)

* * *

 ** _Two Years Later_**

Jukei had kept his promise to train Izuku with the free time he had. Unfortunately, between having to do his own studying and training, and having to go through internships, Izuku had to do most of the exercises that had been provided on his own, barring the supervision of his parents. This had pushed Jukei to write down a precise schedule for Izuku to follow in his absence. It started with stretches in the morning, consisting of 10 reps of the various stretches. These were followed by a diet-friendly breakfast, since he needed to maintain his health, and then he went to school on weekdays. On weekends, he would jog with Jukei to the gym, and wait for him to finish. He would then spar with him in private at the dojo Jukei attended, which taught several martial arts. Jukei taught Izuku basic moves, but never taught him any of the actual martial arts, as he said he wouldn't, not until he was nine. He also told Izuku to get several balancing exercises done.

Izuku had, per their agreement, kept his grades up when he began primary school, and Jukei was very impressed with what he had been shown. Something told him Izuku would grow to be something of a genius, but he didn't want him to get ahead of himself. The kid had just started! That being said, he was even more impressed to find Izuku had taken up a little hobby: quirk analysis. He had two note books with notes on different heroes and their quirks, fighting styles, tactics, costumes, gadgets, and the like.

It had been going well. So well in fact, that Jukei had decided to give him a day off. Currently, he and his mother were taking a trip with his mother to a park in Chiba. His mother had allowed him to go a ways ahead of her, as long as he stayed within the park.

After wandering for a short time, Izuku came to a creek. This was ideal. After about 2 years of likely more hard work than most or possibly even any his age, Izuku just wanted to… to do nothing for a moment. To think about what he _had_ gotten done. The green-and-black haired child had always been doing something; now he wanted to _think_ about what he had been doing. That was something very few people knew about Midoriya Izuku. For all of his insecurities and bashfulness, he was a thinker. It was actually he who had understood the other reading of his given name. He never clarified because, unlike him, Kacchan actually enjoyed the attention. Now he was regretting it big time.

Back on the subject of actually thinking about his progress, Izuku liked to think he had changed for the better in the last 2 years. He was still fairly scrawny since no intense training had been done, he couldn't talk to strangers without stuttering, and he barely interacted with anyone at school, let alone actually stood up for himself. He even still flinched whenever someone reached out for him.

The move to a new neighborhood made it easier for Izuku to avoid Katsuki, but Izuku still found himself crossing paths with him from time to time. It never ended well.

But he was going down the right path; he had better grades than most his age, no matter who tried to put him down, or how much he wanted to curve them to avoid the unwanted attention. He knew how to properly throw a punch, as opposed to kids who just brawled. He even tuned down on his Hero merchandise. In particular, he focused solely on limited edition stuff for All Might, and he widened his horizons to other heroes he considered to be role models. He was changing for the better, and he had Jukei-sensei to thank for it.

Suddenly, Izuku heard noises; that of a body shuffling along the ground, and a sigh. Looking around, he saw to his left a boy no older than himself. Black, shaggy hair overshadowed eyes of a less familiar red. His skin seemed an ever-so-slightly darker shade than his, and he had a light scar over his right eye. He was wearing blue shorts and a shirt with "little man" in big red characters. The stranger, who seemed to be around the same age as Izuku himself, was looking right back at him.

"…Uuuh… h-hello."

Oh, shoot! He was greeting him! He had to say something! He was surprised to hear that the stranger sounded rather nervous. Was that what _he_ sounded like? Not important right now. This was a potential positive peer interaction!

"H-hello."

Well, he supposed that was a practical way to confirm they had one another's attention.

Fun fact: it takes exactly 5 seconds of no conversation for a silence to become awkward. It was seven seconds before Izuku decided to say something.

"W-When did you get here? I d-d-didn't notice you earlier."

The black haired-boy spoke. "I j-just got here."

Silence resumed betwixt them at that moment. Izuku decided if they were going to talk about anything, they should at least know each other's names.

"I… I'm Midoriya Izuku."

"K-Kirishima Eijiro."

Well, at least they got that out of the way. And Izuku had confirmed that, indeed, the boy before him was as nervous as he was.

"…What are those characters on your shirt?"

The now named Eijiro Kirishima perked up at this. "Ah! They say, 'Little Man!'"

"No, I-I knew that. I meant: why do you have them on there?"

"Oh, umm… my dad says I'm going to grow up to be a real man, like him. I hope so. I wanna grow up to be a manly hero, like Crimson Riot."

Izuku himself livened up that this. He was more than grateful to move to the topic of heroes! "Oh! The Chivalrous hero, Crimson Riot? He's so awesome! He stands for everything not just found in a hero, but in a man too. At least, that's what he says. Are you really gonna be a hero like him?"

Suddenly, Kirishima seemed crestfallen, as if he wasn't so sure himself or…

Equally suddenly, the black-haired boy seemed to make a very familiar Image.

"I… I want to…" He said, his voice small. He looked at the ground. "… But I don't know that I can do it. I mean… Crimson Riot is cool, and brave and tough. I'm…" His voice became wobbly, and Izuku hoped he could get all of his thoughts out so he could help him. "I'm a coward. I remember two years ago some kid was defending another kid from a bunch of bullies. I… w-wanted to help him, b-but I was too scared. What kind of hero am I if I can't help someone else just because I'm scared to get hurt myself? And … and when I do manage to try and move…" his voice as cracking, he was sure. "I c-c-can't do anything. M-My quirk's pathetic. I can harden m-m-myself, but I can't be any stronger than plastic. I tried to defend someone else with it, and not only did I fail, I cried because I got hurt so bad a-a-and…and…" He didn't full on sob, but he allowed the tears to run down his cheeks. He really didn't want to say anything else, lest he actually cry.

When the quirkless child heard the kid before him talk, he heard something not unlike his own words from once upon a time. He remembered how desperately he wanted to be able to do something, to have someone else assure him he could. He had to say something. He had to be there for someone who needed it. He put on a determined face.

"I want to be a hero too." He said. "It's all I want. My whole life is heroes. Right now I'm filling up note books with facts about all sorts of heroes and villains. Crimson riot is one of them." Suddenly, Eijiro looked at him, his attention fully on a very steadfast Izuku. "Did you know that he was afraid, not just sometimes, but every moment of his career?"

"Yeah, I remember." Eijiro replied, blinking his slightly wet eyes. "The interview he said that in is my favorite video."

This allowed Izuku to continue. "In his early years, some civilians even died because he froze up when he saw a villain. Do you know what he said about someone that doesn't feel fear?" Izuku left his question out in the open, waiting for Kirishima-kun to respond.

Suddenly, the red-eyed kid looked him straight in the eye, his tears not deterring him in the slightest. "He said that anyone who isn't afraid is an idiot. And the one thing that scared him the most were… _are_ the faces of people he couldn't save."

"You say you were frozen up," Izuku took on a determined look, "but to me, it sounds like you were afraid for what could have happened to that boy more than you were scared for your own safety. Next time when it happens when you become a hero you'll do what you have to do." Izuku smiled at him. "Crimson Riot also said 'to live without regrets is the best way to be.'"

Eijiro raised an arm to his face to wipe the tears out of his eyes. He straightened his back and looked at Izuku. He allowed himself a wide smile, which revealed very shark-like teeth. "I…Thanks, Midoriya. But it's kind of weird that you would help me."

"That's what a hero does." The green-and-black haired boy responded. "They interfere where they are not wanted and help whether anyone asks them to or not. And since I am helping you, I can also help you become a hero."

"Huh? Really?"

"Yeah. I can ask my teacher. If he can teach you, and if he says yes, we can work together on becoming heroes." And then, he suddenly gave Eijiro a serious look. "Now I have to ask you: What kind of hero do you want to be?"

Eijiro thought for a moment. He had no idea. He wasn't sure if he could be a real hero, not being able to move in a real emergency. But maybe that was his answer.

Tightening his Hands into fists, he responded unwaveringly. "I am going to be a manly hero that can run in to any situation, to save everyone without hesitating."

"It's a promise. I'll take you to meet my teacher the next time I go to see him. Maybe he'd be willing to help you too."

"Maybe I would!" An older voice suddenly jumped from out of nowhere. As they shrieked in surprise and turned to face the speaker. They found a senior-year Jukei Ikinuku Standing not five feet away from them, now taller, and with more defined muscle hidden underneath his red track suit and black sneakers. He was glaring at Izuku, as if he had committed a gravely sin. He spoke again, "Midoriya Izuku, I tell you to jog 5 laps around Chiba Park, and I find you chatting it up with some other little snot?! That's 15 laps for both of you, now!" He had never said that; he was just using this o solidify their oath.

"H-h-huh? B-but-"

"NOW!"

Izuku lost what little energy for protesting he had left, running off down the riverside, Eijiro looking on in confusion before feeling a small shove forward. "You too, kiddo."

"Huh?" The sharp-toothed child looked to Jukei in confusion. "What? Why?"

"You want to become great heroes together right? You promised each other." Eijiro nodded, not following. "Well, as Izuku-chan's teacher, I'm not gonna let you be too weak to help him, to help yourself." The teenage trainer threw him a thumbs up "If you want to keep your promise, then you'd better start now, before you fall too far behind." Eijiro took on an expression of realization as he came to understand what the stranger meant. Midoriya was working hard, harder now to keep his promise. If he was going to grow alongside him, he should do the same. With these thoughts in mind, he sprinted off after Izuku, who had gained a fair head start, Jukei smiling warmly.

Inko, meanwhile, sweat dropped. After two years, she was really starting to wonder about his methods.

* * *

Eventually, Eijiro had caught up to Izuku on their trek down the river, the two of them panting as they tried to keep as far ahead of their spur-of-the-moment trainer.

"*Pant Pant* What exactly *Pant* did he mean about 15 laps?" Eijiro asked worriedly.

Izuku turned to Eijiro and answered between breaths of his own, "*Pant* He wants us to * Pant Pant* run around Chiba *Pant* 15 times."

"*Pant* Oh. *Pant* Greeeeaaat."

Before Izuku could respond, he found himself running into somebody. Eijiro Slowed down and came to a stop as he then turn back around to help his freckled friend up.

"Oof!"

Took a moment to gain his bearings, but when he did he muttered out a quick apology before suddenly getting a look at who he ran into. It was a young girl about his age with a large mouth and eyes with pronounced lower eyelashes, forming a rather vacant expression. Her nose seemed to be more of a snout, and her hair was long and teal. She had large hands and feet, and she was wearing a blue polo shirt and khaki pants.

But most importantly she was a girl! _She. Was. A. Girl!_

"I-I-I-I-I"

"Uh, Midoriya?" Eijiro Looked at his newly made comrade in concern

Despite the substantial increase in - and for that matter his manifestation of the _existence_ of - his confidence, the green-haired trainee was still less than adept at talking to others, especially girls. And considering he had just knocked this girl over because of his lack of attentiveness, his reaction was really the best one could have hoped for in terms of actual positive interaction.

The still rather timid child got down on all fours in a bow and apologized as sincerely as he could. "G-G-GOMENESAI! I wasn't looking where I was going I didn't mean to hurt you! Gomenkudasai!

The young girl in question did not seem terribly offended to begin with. She just blinked twice at him before getting up and dusting herself off and did not escape Izuku's or Eijiro's notice that her form was hunched and she had her hand out in front of her not unlike zombie. She spoke in a nasally voice.

"Daijobu. You didn't really hurt me badly. The landing just stung a little. Though if I may ask why are you running so fast?"

Izuku scrambled up from his spot on the ground and attempted to form a coherent reply. "U... U-uh... I A-ah-aaahhhh..." it was totally within his ability to talk properly, but it still did not escape him the circumstances in which he was speaking he was talking to a girl! And she was talking _right back to him_!

It was not lost on Eijiro that Izuku was too nervous to speak, so he decided to step in by answering for him. "We're jogging around Chiba." He said. "His-…" He stopped short as soon as he remembered _why_ he was running with him. "-Our trainer is pretty scary."

Finally his partner began to form words. "I... *Ahem* That is... he's... he's really not that bad, Kirishima-kun! Once you get to know him he's a really great guy!"

His returned ability to talk probably had something to do with the fact that he was technically addressing Kirishima right now.

"Oh, really?" The girl perked up curiously. "What are you training for?"

Eijiro pumped his fists enthusiastically. "We're gonna become heroes! We've got work as hard as possible if we want to become the greatest we want to be!"

The strange girl put a finger up to her lip thoughtfully. "You seem a little young for any particularly intense training are you sure you're OK?"

 _K-Kawaii!_ Izuku thought at the girl's gesture. That could wait! Right now he had to do something to prevent making himself from looking like a _complete_ clod. "It's... f-fine. It's n-not as hard as it seems. We wanna become the b-b-best of heroes so we've got t-t-to work harder than anyone else." It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn't properly introduced himself. In an attempt to reduce his nervousness he stuck out his hand in anticipation of a handshake. "I-I'm Midoriya Izuku. T-t-this is Kirishima Eijiro."

"Yo!" Eijiro was always excited to meet new people.

"Hajimemashite." She said as she shook their respective hands, _Holy whoa, a girl was touching holding his hand!_ "I'm Asui Tsuyu ."

For the second time that day, Izuku attempted to start a conversation with someone his age. "S-So... what... what are you d-d-d-doing out here, Asui-San?"

"Oh, I'm actually just doing a bit of training of my own. In case you didn't notice my quirk makes me like a frog so I was going to see if I could clear this river."

Well, that explained her appearance. Not that it bothered him. She was actually really cute. Izuku felt his cheeks heat up, and he hoped he didn't look too silly. To try and distract himself, he took a look at the wide river tour which she was referring.

"Oh... uh... doesn't that s-seem a bit dangerous?"

"Don't worry. It's not very rocky and the water is deeper than it looks."

"Oh. Have you done it often?"

"Indeed I have. Kero."

The boys jumped at this. Did she just croak?! Izuku knew certain animal quirks made people more similar to animals but the occasion on which they made the actual noise of their respective animals was actually fairly rare.

Tsuyu flinched as she realized she had croaked again. "Yeah, I know." she said, sounding a bit rueful though not losing her blank expression. "I croak just like a real frog, but I can't really control it. Sorry if it bothers you. I try to do it less than before."

"NO!" Izuku suddenly shouted, and his present company was taken aback by his outburst. Suddenly, The bashful trainee completely realized what he had just done. "Uh... I mean... Y-you don't have to stop doing it if you don't really want to. You should..." He took a deep breath. "You should never stop being you just because someone else doesn't like it. You should always be yourself, especially if you want to prove you have the courage of a real hero. If you can't do that, how can you say you have the courage to help other people?"

Beneath her stoic manner, the anthropomorphic frog girl was more than a little gob smacked. Most other kids thought she was bizarre, that her tongue was just a worm in her mouth, and that kids shouldn't be making any of the noises she made. Her parents told her it was simply a phase, which they would grow out of it, and they would mature more.

"Besides..." Izuku smiled shyly, "I... I-I th-th-think... your... y-y-y-your c-croak is really... r-r-r-really... c-c-c ... cu..."

Tsuyu turns her head to the side cutely, and Eijiro scratches the back of his head confusedly.

Izuku decides he does not have the courage to say what he was about to say while looking at either of them. So he turned his head away his voice barely above a whisper.

"...cute."

Oh God he had actually set it he actually thought to praise someone and now it was going to hit him back hard! She was going to slap him, laugh at him, call him a dork of the highest grade and take away whatever self-respect he had an insult speed of Mach 110!

"...Call me Tsuyu."

Izuku blushed. "Eh?!"

Eijiro blinked. "Huh?"

"I'll call you Izuku, she said, before turning to Eijiro, "And you Eijiro."

Izuku blushed harder. "O-o-o-okay."

"Sure!" Eijiro replied. "Hey since you're training too, you wanna try doing it with us?"

Tsuyu nodded. "Kero."

"Okay, great!" He spoke hurriedly. "We should start right now, before Trainer-San catches up to us."

And then, to the surprise of both boys when the frog female turned in the same direction they were running, she did not run, but instead hopped at a fast pace. They gawked slightly before running to catch up.

* * *

Sometime later, Tsuyu decided to stop near an alleyway. She had to admit he was impressed with the others' ability to keep up with her, despite her inherent advantages, but she decided she should let them take a break before they combusted. She didn't have to wait a full 15 seconds before they were completely caught up with her, albeit panting for breath like it was a scarce resource.

"W-wow," Eijiro manages to get out. "You're really fast, Asui."

The girl simply shrugged. "You guys were good too, even though your quirks don't give you any permanent physical boosts. Kero. Call Me Tsuyu"

"But you... y-y-you didn't have to stop for us." Izuku wheezed out.

"Of course I did. You two are exhausted and I felt bad for leaving you behind like that."

"Dang." Eijiro said "That's really great of ya, Tsuyu." He kind of wanted to say it was manly of her, except she was "her."

Suddenly the three of them heard a noise; sobbing. It was coming from the alleyway.

Let's make something very clear: among three of them, Midoriya Izuku may have been intelligent beyond his years and he may have been very cautious. However, he was still only six years old and he still had very much to learn. And much like any six-year-old who had very much to learn, he had a vicious curiosity streak. So when his newfound companions took a slight step towards the alleyway, he not only failed to stop them from doing so, he also took a step forward with them. They also took several more steps forward until one of them *cough* Eijiro *cough* stepped on a can and evidently alerted the presence within the alleyway to their own presence. What they were not expecting was the voice of someone their own age.

"W-Who's there? Don't come any closer!"

Izuku tensed up "W-who's there?"

"Midoriya," Eijiro whispered, "maybe we should go."

"calm down Eijiro," Tsuyu said. "If we were in any trouble, we'd be running on reflex."

"Hey!" The hardener protested indignantly. "I knew that!"

"Please," the voice pleaded, "I-I don't want to hurt anyone!"

[Izuku Midoriya: Hero Instincts, Activate]

"Come on, Kirishima-kun, Asui-san. We need to find whoever is in here."

Midoriya, come on…" The red-eyed boy protested weakly.

"Let's go." But Izuku was having none of it.

"Don't argue with him, Eijiro-chan." Tsuyu said, following Izuku's lead. "This is serious. Someone could be seriously hurt."

"*sigh* I know." He said as they moved in. Looking back at that moment, he would be very upset with himself for almost abandoning someone just because he was afraid, again, not 10 minutes after he made a vow not to do that.

After about three minutes of stumbling, careful steps, and one instance of Eijiro almost scraping himself on the brick wall, they went far enough in that they could make out a figure in the darkness. With only minimum light from the split in between the building tops, it was too dark for them to properly see his full appearance, but they could tell he was actually shorter than them, though he seemed to be the same age otherwise. He-or she- was curled up into a ball, and they could more clearly hear his whimpers now that they were much closer.

"Hello?" Izuku tried. "What's wrong?"

Suddenly the voice became even more panicked. "I said get back! I don't want to hurt you!"

"Hurt us? What do you mean?"

"M-m-m-muh-my-my quirk! It's t-t-too strong in the dark! I ...I can't control it!"

"Well maybe it would help if you were moved out of the light." The greenette offered helpfully.

"... Could you help me up?"

"Nani?"

"I ran in here and sprained my ankle when I tripped on something." Honestly, he was so embarrassed he hadn't just thought of crawling, now he was going to make them do it?

"OK. Come on, Kirishima-kun. Help me lift him up. You grab his left, I'll grab his right."

It took a bit of time and effort, but they manage to lift him up over their shoulders and help him out of the alleyway. Upon setting him down, they see his full face. He is definitely a boy (the voice gives everything away) but they immediately noticed he has the head of a hawk. His eyes are a slightly deeper red than Eijiro's, and he is wearing black shorts and a gray shirt that has the kanji for "spook."

"I... I'm Tokoyami F-F-Fumikage." The boy stutters out, and Izuku wonders for the second time that day if that is what he sounds like.

"Midoriya Izuku desu."

"Kirishima Eijiro desu."

"Asui Tsuyu desu."

There is several seconds of awkward silence before Izuku's curiosity got the better of him. "So... what is your quirk?"

Normally young Fumikage would have been far too afraid of what other people would say to tell them about his quirk, but the way this boy asked that, and the way he looked at him... something made him believe he could trust this boy and his friends.

"My quirk is dark shadow." suddenly, everyone gasped when a stringy-bodied creature with a birds head not unlike his own appeared from his torso "I can control this little creature made out of actual darkness and he becomes stronger in the dark, but also harder for me to control."

"Wow!" Izuku had stars in his eyes. "That's really cool! Are you gonna be a hero like us? You'd be really strong, especially at night!"

"I... I can't." The bird-headed boy said shamefully. "I can't be a hero."

"What?" Izuku's eyebrows furrowed. "Why not?"

Fumikage looked at him as though he had asked the stupidest question in the world. "I showed you my quirk. Darkness is evil. If I get stronger in the dark, I'll only ever be seen as the villain."

"Says who?" Eijiro stepped in this time.

Fumikage seemed reluctant "...Other kids."

"Well," The hardening quirk user decided firmly, "They don't know what they're talking about!"

"Yeah!" Izuku said. "If they think darkness automatically makes a villain, they don't know what a real villain or a real hero is!"

Fumikage was very much taken aback. "D...do you really think I'm not a villain?"

"Yes!" Izuku declared firmly. "Even more than that, I bet you could become an awesomely powerful hero!"

"Yeah! What he said!" Let it be known Eijiro Kirishima was not gifted in the ways of backing others up logically, only morally.

Fumikage did not know what to say. His parents would only try to comfort him and say he wasn't a monster, that he was a good boy, their good boy. But when he asked them if he could be a hero with this power...

"...I ... Thank you guys. Really... I... Thank you. I just..."

"Fumikage!"

Suddenly the group was approached by two adults, who happened to be Fumikage's parents.

His mother was a woman of average height whose most noted feature where is the head of a pigeon with human eyes and gray feathers, with a slender build and wearing blue jeans loafers and a dark grey cardigan. Her name was Tsubame Tokoyami.

His father was a slightly short man with red eyes and dark hair that was spiked backwards. His skin was pale and he wore gray khakis black Nikes with green accents and a brown polo shirt. His name was Kurai Tokoyami.

"Gomenesai, Okaa-san." Fumikage apologized. "I... I just got upset when those kids called me a monster when I used my quirk to fight them after what they said about your face."

The apparent father nodded in approval, speaking in a voice that was deep, without any pronounced emotion. "That's my boy. Defending his mother's honor. Ha ha. But you know the rules. No quirks in public."

"Yes, Otou-san. It's OK though. 'Cuz my new friends told me I can be a hero! And I'm going to make my quirk stronger to do it!"

His parents took in the side of the ragtag group of children. They were his friends now? And was he really certain about this?

"Well..." His mother spoke," If that's what you wish, angel..." If pigeons could look determined that would certainly describe Miss Tokoyami."

"IT looks like I get to discern the difference between our abilities after all son." His father spoke, allowing a smile to stretch across his pale face.

Izuku decide to speak up. "Uhm, Mr. and Mrs. Tokoyami, is it OK if Fumikage-san ... plays with us for a while?"

The parents think it over for a moment. His friends seemed rather encouraging. They were nice to him in spite of having apparently seeing his powers. And this green kid...

"Worry not, my treasured child." His father spoke. "You are a graced with your father's express permission for this escapade with these mysterious youths."

"Dear!" The Mrs. admonished. "If you keep talking like that, he's going to end up like you!"

"And what's wrong with that?!"

Meanwhile in the background, Izuku decided to invite the shadow quirk user along on their exercise. "Eto... Tokoyami-san, you want to run with us?"

"If you insist..." And so the group continued, one hero larger.

* * *

After several breath-draining minutes, the group comes full circle to where Izuku met Eijiro. They see something that was not there when they left.

A young girl with eyes with black sclera and yellow irises, light pink skin, and small horns just barely poking past her curly pink hair is shaking in her shoes, standing with two kids behind her, doubled over in what is most likely pain. Standing before her are three kids who reek of ill intent. The one standing in the front, Izuku recognizes as all too familiar.

"Kacchan?."

What was he doing here? Did he really know this girl? What was going on?

That last one he felt he already knew the answer to.

"Get outta the way, pinky." The gruffly voices child demanded. "These two need to learn their place."

The strange girl in front of them, who is still trembling head to toe, spoke out as defiantly as she could. "W-why are you being so mean? You made 'em cry, Baku. I-I-If you keep on hurting them, I'll...I'll stop you myself!

Izuku suddenly saw someone standing where he once stood, defending someone from the person he used to look up to more than anyone else in the world. No one came to defend him. He would not allow the same misfortune to befall this girl, who had no business being here.

"... I have a plan."

Katsuki Bakugou had only ever been so irritated once in his short life, and he was about to deal with it the same way.

"...Heh. You really wanna try and stop me? Even your quirk doesn't compare to mine. How much acid can you throw before it hurts you?" He took a step forward to assert his imagined authority.

"D-don't come any closer!" Mina raised her tiny first shakily. "Don't come any closer or I'll ...I'll throw all of it at you!"

Bakugo is un-intimidated. _Enough. Time to end this charade._

"You know what?" He slams one fist into his palm, a tiny explosion going off between them. "Fine. I'll let them go. But you have to agree to take their place."

The pink girl is frozen in fear, unable to respond.

"I don't hear any argument."

...

"Well then I guess that settles that. You're going down!"

Suddenly, Katsuki found himself getting tackled to the ground, his arms in someone else's grip.

"Oof! Hey, who are you?! Get offa m-..."

The precocious bully suddenly looks up to see familiar green and black hair, and green eyes glaring back at him. It is accompanied by the most annoying voice he swears he's ever heard.

"You're still hurting people, Kacchan! You never change!"

"Deku?! What are you doing here?! Get offa me!"

Izuku suddenly sees little sparks from out of Katsuki's hands and uses the split second he has left to get away, before an explosion the size of a compact car shoots from out of The blonde's palms! Katsuki scrambles off of the ground and snarls.

"Still getting in my way, huh Deku? You may have moved away like a coward, but you'll always be a thorn in my side!"

"You're outnumbered, Kacchan."

"Huh?"

"Look around you. You can't take us all on."

Katsuki looks over to where his followers were and sees that he is indeed outnumbered. The freak with the bird head was pinning down long fingers with some shadow monster that was appearing from his stomach, and the fat one with the wings was being held down by his arms and legs buy some frog looking girl and some emo looking kid. And to top it off, that explosion was his biggest. It was more than his body could take, and now the nerves in his hands were damaged. Realizing Deku is right, he curses for the first time in his life!

"Kuso!" He turned to face his imagined rival. "This isn't over, Deku! Next time I'll kill you _and_ your friends!" And with that, he runs in the opposite direction of the. The other kids following him were released from their respective holds once their "boss" is far enough ahead of them that they cannot see him clearly.

With the main issue gone and dealt with, the quirkless child turned his attention to the three would-be victims.

"Are you..."

Before he could fully articulate his question, he found himself tackled to the ground and buy a pink blur. Upon regaining his bearings he discovered that the pain girl had him in an embrace.

"THANK YOU! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!"

Izuku could only make several flustered gurgling noises in response, as he blushed like crazy. a girl was hugging him! This did not bother the girl, who was not paying attention as she rambled off.

"I was so scared I ran into that guy and I decided to follow him around because I thought he was cool but then he was bullying these two kids and I tried to stop him but he was SO SCARY! And then you jump in and you were SO COOL! Your dodge when he exploded was AWESOME! THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH!"

[Izuku Midoriya: Flustered Levels: Off Charts.]

"I think she broke him." Eijiro said.

Tsuyu didn't know why, but she was getting this strange feeling of frustration seeing Izuku in this girls embrace. "Excuse me," She interjected, getting the strange energetic girls attention. "I think you've flustered our friend out of commission."

Mina held her Savior at arm's length to examine him, in all his blushing glory. "Omigosh, are you OK? I didn't mean to spook you, I was just so excited when you save me and these two..." She turned to where the other two kids were on the ground in pain only to see that they were no longer there What she did not know was that while she was hugging the living daylights out of her personal hero, they had decided they should simply go because there was no need for them to stay any longer. "Oh." She simply said. "Oh well. I'm Ashido Mina! Nice to meet ya!"

"I'm Asui Tsuyu. Kero." The frog girl introduced herself. "Call me Tsuyu."

"Kirishima Eijiro." The boy introduced himself boisterously. "Nice to meet you too!"

"...Tokoyami Fumikage. It is... pleasant."

The now named Mina Ashido turned to face Izuku, waiting for him to introduce himself, but he was still a little too flustered from the unfamiliar contact. So the bubbly girl decided to guess herself.

"Okay let me guess! Hmm... that Bakugou boy ... he called you..." her face lit up in remembrance "Deku, right?"

Izuku managed to snap out of his flustered state enough to actually talk to her, his blush toning down slightly. "A-A-actually m-my n-n-n-name is Midoriya Izuku."

"Oh?" She tilted her head curiously. "But that boy Bakugou... he called you 'Deku.'"

"T-That's just what he calls me. The character for "Izuku" can also be read as "Deku," and that means someone who can't do anything."

"Shows what he knows! You did do something! You saved me!"

Izuku's blush returned full force.

"But is that why you called him 'Kacchan?' I thought his name was Bakugo."

"I-It-it is. 'Kacchan' is j-j-j-just what I call him."

"Really? But why? It sounds too cute for a bully like him."

Tsuyu asked "Do you to know each other very well?"

"We..." Izuku looked crestfallen. "We used to. I moved away."

"Good." Eijiro stated firmly. "I wouldn't wanna live near that jerk."

"A shattered bond." Fumikage said gravely. Everyone turned to him, surprised at the dark tone in his voice. He blushed hotly. "My ... My dad does that sometimes. He sounds really cool when he does it."

"H-he's not that bad." Izuku said, causing everyone to raise an eyebrow. "H-he's just super-proud and confident and brave and strong and..."

"And really mean." Tsuyu interjected bluntly.

"He's not that bad!"

"I disagree."

He could tell they weren't asking, but he felt compelled to tell them? Why? Why does he feel selfish need? They didn't need to be bothered with his problems.

"I swear he's okay! He only started acting like this once his quirk manifested!"

"Ya, sure. Whatever." Mina was not too convinced. "So, like, what're you guys doing out here?'

"We're training to be heroes." Eijiro said, slamming a fist into his palm.

"*gasp* Cool! That Baku kid Said he was going to be one and that he and his friends had an agency or whatever, but I don't know. Say, I'm curious: what are your quirks? I can shoot acid until it starts stinging."

Eijiro introduced his with a measure of pride. "I can harden my body. Though now I can only make myself hard as wood, I'll make it way stronger!"

Tsuyu went next. "I can basically do anything frog can. Kero."

Next was Fumikage. "I can control a shadow monster that becomes stronger in darkness."

Everyone turned to Izuku, who suddenly was feeling very nervous as he remembered the reason he didn't have any friends: he had no quirk. Nothing about him was special. The expectant stairs were suddenly becoming too much to handle.

"Izuku-chan," Asui said, "you never did mention your quirk, or what you can do with it."

"Yeah," Eijiro chimed in, "Why is that?"

"You needn't divulge anything personal to us," Fumikage attempted to supply helpfully, "only what you are comfortable with."

"C'mon, spill it! What is it?"

He knew they didn't mean him any harm; they were just curious. That did not ease the pit in his stomach.

Izuku swallowed hard, and he was quite certain everyone could tell how nervous he was. This was the big moment, wasn't it? The moment when he risked losing friends as quickly as he had made them.

He had experience with how other kids treated powerless "peers." It constantly reminded Izuku of what he'd learned when Bakugo beat him up for the first time. Suddenly, he remembered the mocking of his powerlessness, of kids who had a told him he'd never amount to anything...

"Midoriya?"

...Of the doctor, who had so lethargically told him he would never get a power of his own...

"Hey, Midoriya?"

...Of his parents, who may as well have told him he'd always be a quirkless nobody when they said they wished things were different, not even really answering him when he so desperately wanted them to tell him he could still be a hero...

"MIDORIYA!"

Suddenly, Izuku broke out of the darkness that had surrounded him, and it quickly became apparent that he was breathing a little erratically. After several seconds of calming down, he looked around to see his audience looking at him with a bit of both worry and anticipation.

Suddenly, he decided he shouldn't worry so much about their opinions. They had just barely met him, and he was quite used to being dejected. And here he was still moving forward, a mentor on his side. He decided that if they were going to hear the truth, they were going to hear all of it. He took a deep breath and out it came.

"I'm quirkless." He told them.

Their looks of surprise and confusion were completely expected, but what he did not expect was that several seconds had been spent in silence. He thought they would've started laughing by now. "When I got my results, the Doctor made absolutely sure. He said it would never happen." He looked crestfallen at that, before continuing. "But I really want to be a hero." He said earnestly. "There's nothing else in the world I want to be. Not having a quirk is just going to make it a lot harder, and I have someone to teach me, so it won't impossible." He noticed they were still staring. They hadn't responded at all. were they too shell shocked by his first statement? Had anything else he'd said even registered with them? "I know it seems stupid," he choked out, "but I'm not going to give up, even if everyone else thinks I am totally hopeless. I'll become the greatest hero I can be, the greatest in the world, if I can." He noticed they still hadn't stop staring at him. He knew it was only a matter of time, but he would get the responses. He simply close his eyes and clinched his tiny fists.

...

...

...

...

...

...Okay, this was getting ridiculous.

Izuku wasn't so sure why it was taking them so long to respond. Out of curiosity and confusion, he opened his eyes only to see that in the time he'd had his eyes closed, his companions, sans Asui who still had her neutral expression had rather positive expression; more specifically, Tokoyami looked at him with wide eyes and what appeared to be a smile on his beak, and Mina and Eijiro had wide grins across their faces.

What had gotten into them?

"YOU'RE SO COOL!" Mina and Eijiro declared loudly, catching Izuku completely off guard.

"An unarmed battle against darkness." Fumikage muttered.

"You're going to be working harder than I thought, if you are serious about it." Asui said, with a finger to her lips.

"You're even more of a man than I thought!" Eijiro said. "I _never_ would have considered being a hero if my quirk hadn't shown up!"

"Yeah! that's awesome!" Ashido squealed. "Don't give up no matter what!"

Izuku was struck dumb. He had not expected this at all. Yet… "Y-…you guys think I can do it? You don't think I'm just being a loser?"

"A loser wouldn't not give up like this!" Eijiro replied. "You are the _man_ , man."

The green-haired quirkless boy could only stand there in shock. All of the kids back home had automatically decided that he couldn't do anything, that he would never be any good. These kids… were most certainly not those kids, and boy was he grateful for that! He decided he wasn't going to let their words of encouragement go unrewarded. He smiled widely. "If you guys think I can really be a hero…" he began, "and you all want to be heroes to…" he paused for a moment and continued when they nodded in affirmation, "then we will all become heroes together!" he firmly decided. "My sensei is very nice. I think he would be willing to take up more students. He even made me and Kirishima-kun go on a jog together so we could secure the promise we made to each other." The aforementioned boy looked at him in surprise. He did not expect him to figure that out.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, said teacher made his appearance, standing proud and tall looking at each and every one of them appraisingly. "Well Izuku," he said "it's good to see you brought me some fresh meat." He then crossed his arms over his chest. "All right, listen up!" he said. "I don't care if you're a wimp. I don't care if you're geeks. I don't care if you don't even know how to properly fight, and I don't care if you've never fought in your life or done anything dangerous." He said. "However, if you're collective will power is sufficient to endure what I've got in store for you, then you will be one step closer towards your little aspiration. There will be no change in schedule; there will be no sick days; there will there will be no let ups; and you will _always_ be better than you were the day before. Am I understood?" Bewildered by the arrival of their new teacher (apparently), each of them stood ramrod straight and saluted.

"""""Yes sir!""""" they responded simultaneously.

Satisfied with their response, Jukei decided to let up on the verbal abuse. "OK then." he said, "It seems you all day I had a listen very good. Now if none of you are the spineless, all-talk, pansy ass little worms I think you are, you're training will begin right now!" He knew this seemed like a pretty spur of the moment decision on his part, and in fact it probably was, but he would not be around forever. In fact, if Jukei got far enough in life, he would probably no longer be needed. He would need friends to support him when his time was up, so to speak. These little brats seemed up to the task. He turned to his number one disciple. "Oh and Izuku." He said. The addressed turned to him. "Nice job finding me new recruits." The mentor figure threw a morale-boosting thumbs-up at him.

"Who's ready?"

Izuku had a feeling he would get along very well with the friends he had made today.

* * *

 ** _Seven Years, Six Months Later_**

Izuku had grown very close to his newly made friends over the years, even though living in different prefectures made it hard to spend time with them often. It helped that they had a surprising many things in common between the five of them. Prime among them was their mutual desire to be heroes, and their preference for U.A. High. They were all outstanding in their own way, though Izuku had insisted he was the least amazing out of all of them. That being said, he had learned a great deal about them.

Eijiro was easiest for him to get along with, perhaps because he was straightforwardly honest and kind-hearted. With the passing years and side-by-side training routines, he had changed is resolve immensely from the under confident and self-depreciating person he had been. He was now able to back up his bravado, having improved his quirk to the point to where blades did no good, and even large hammers were just a slap on the wrist. Even without it, he was tough as nails, having taking up swarmer-style boxing to compliment his quirk and simultaneously become capable of fighting without it. Looking past his skills, Eijiro was very outgoing, and very fond of the concept of manliness, whatever it implied for him. He also cried a bit. When he brought it up, the red-eyed boy had told him something that would make Izuku feel much better about his own breakdowns. Apparently among Eijiro's Crimson Riot fan paraphernalia, were recording of his interviews. One of his videos was of the Chivalrous hero speaking of manly tears, of tears that had a reason, for being shed, as opposed to being shed for no good reason. He taught that it was that it was not only _okay_ to cry, but that it was actually better, and Eijiro had confidently told his green-haired bro that his tears were certainly manly. Izuku would always be close with him. Kirishima-kun even ended up becoming "Eicchan," at some point. Neither of them questioned it.

Asui – or Tsu, as she apparently preferred being called - was so blunt it hurt sometimes. But it also meant she wasn't afraid to be herself, and Izuku respected that. It also meant she wasn't afraid to say the sort of nice things some people would be embarrassed to say. She also seemed to have a natural poker face, but unlike most people, Izuku knew there was more to it than just a level head (though he knew she did possess such). It was because her amphibian physiology had suppressed her emotions, making them much harder to notice even at their most obvious, accomplishable only by those who had known her long enough, like he had come to. She was also incredibly perceptive - something he could appreciate. She also liked using the "-chan" honorific with her peers, probably in an effort to endear them to herself. The girl came off strong for someone so emotionally subdued.

Fumikage was aloof, but not out of hostility. He simply found an artful serenity in solitude, but he enjoyed the company of friends as much as anyone else. He was also a very serious person, and his silence towards certain statements made it very easy to distinguish what he thought did and did not have a point. It may have been because of his quirk, but Izuku found that his bird-headed companion was more than a little fond of the dark, and also had flair for the dramatic, which he presented subtly, as he sometimes got embarrassed about it. Izuku found he could relate to the bird-headed boy's belief in the concept of destiny, which he spoke of when he thought of their "fated friendship." Izuku's own beliefs, he confided, were based off of his meeting with his mentor Jukei, so he couldn't really argue. On the subject, he was grateful Fumikage - or Fucchan – had come to trust him, as he realized the shadow beast master did not grant it as easily as others.

Mina was by far the most outspoken friend he had made, both in appearance in personality. Her easygoing behavior made it hard for anything to really aggravate her. She was extremely friendly, all but jumping at the opportunity to interact with others. The quirkless trainee could count on one hand the number of people he knew personally who could really bring down her ever-cheerful mood. However, because she was so emotional, he found certain circumstances could easily bring her to tears. Something he wasn't quite sure how to feel about was that she was a constant tease, always finding something that rendered him red in the face, his expression clashing with his dark green curls. But he knew very well the difference between her little jabs and the downplaying comments of those he usually hung out with; she wouldn't be doing it if she thought she was actually hurting his feelings. Another notable fact he found was that she did not like bullies, something he quietly appreciated (Quietly, because he was starting to doubt Kacchan having a good nature).

What Izuku was not aware of was the fact that Tsuyu and Mina felt especially close to him, and for them, becoming more than friends was more than just a little possible. It helped that he liked them, even if he wasn't sure of the extent to which he liked them.

His newly made friends to one side, Izuku could say he had come very far in his training. After having done enough brawling, Jukei had decided he was ready to teach Izuku some actual martial arts. He was now giving him lessons in Taekwondo, Aikido, and Ninjutsu, the three he felt would be best for him to learn. His academics had still not faltered; he had become a top-ten scorer in his middle school. His shishou had emphasized the hardest part of these lessons would be mixing them together fluidly to make his own style, as all heroes, trained or self-taught, had such a style that made them unique. His strikes did not have a great deal of strength behind them, as his master had made a point of training stamina over physical strength.

" _Lacking a quirk is going to make it harder by leaps and bounds to defeat most of your opponents in a fight of brute force,"_ he reasoned, _"and it that isn't a gap easily filled, so we're going to train you to have the advantage in a drawn-out fight instead."_

Not everything went quite as well as it could have. While he was good friends with all of them, Eijiro and Mina lived in the Chiba Prefecture, and Tsuyu lived in Aichi. Only Fumikage lived in Shizuoka, and as friendly as he had become with the rest of them, he did not feel okay with letting others beyond his family be in his home. It was his sanctuary, his place of privacy, his "abode of solitude when the entire world seems too bright for his darkness." That last one would not be forgotten too soon by him or any of the others. And since none of them lived in the same area as the others (again, except for Eijiro and Mina), none of them went to the same school. So they had to hang out together beyond such a place, and they only did it mostly when they were training together with Jukei, or the now graduated Backlash hero, Penance.

Needless to say, they had little time to actually spend together, so they agreed to make the time count. This was his train of thought, which led to the thought that said time should not be spent having to put up with a certain explosive delinquent and his cronies. Like right now.

The green-haired aspiring hero and his friend were currently taking on a grown p version of the savage child that had seen fit to torment them to remind them of his "superiority." Their appearances had all developed greatly over the years.

Izuku had gained some very well-developed muscle, thought he had only grown 5' 6", since neither of his parents were very tall. His musculature went less toward buff and more towards dense, not showing through his current school uniform. His hair had remained soft and curly, though, and his cheeks still had fat on them. Due to being in a fight, he was sporting a bruise on his left cheek and others that were better hidden under his school uniform. He was standing in a combat stance, though breathing heavily.

Fumikage was neither tall, nor overly muscular, but he was far from the scrawny kid he might have been if he hadn't had formal training. His red eyes had become more intense, and he now stood 5' 6 " tall, matching Izuku. He had a blast mark on his right arm where Bakugo had almost gotten him, before Eijiro had stepped in to grab his attention, and his beak had a scorch mark. He had his hands on his knees as he tried to regain his breath. Dark Shadow was next to him, though much smaller than he could be.

[Tokoyami Fumikage]

[Quirk: Dark Shadow]

[Fumikage's body is host to a wicked spooky shadow monster that becomes weaker in light, but easier to control, and becomes stronger in dark, but harder to control.]

Tsuyu's hair had grown so long she had tied it into a large bow that hung at her lower back, and puberty had been… most generous with her. Her skin was still smooth and milky, and her legs held power that betrayed their skinniness. Her hands were large, and she still held them out in front of her when they were not in use. She was adorably (Izuku's words, making her blush later on) short next to her friends, only 5' tall. She had two blast marks, one on each cheek, and a third hidden o her stomach. She was crouched, giving the impression that she was unfazed by her wounds.

[Asui Tsuyu]

[Quirk: Frog]

[Basically, she can do whatever a frog can.]

Mina was now 5' 4", and her skin had become a darker shade of pink due to repeated exposure to her own acid. Her small horns were… still small compared to other horns, but they had become curled into the front. Mina had also endured puberty most admirably, much like Tsuyu, thought with a different figure. Her training had blessed her with some exquisitely muscled limbs, which did not detract from her femininity. She had black covering her face where an explosion had been unleashed on it. She was on the ground, he legs crisscross, and her hands keeping her off her back.

[Ashido Mina]

[Quirk: Acid]

[Mina can spray a corrosive substance from any part of her body, but she'll eventually lose her own immunity to it.]

Eijiro was 5' 8", with plenty on muscle of his own, and his hair was now spike up and dyed red, a symbol of the new man he had decided to become. His had were had scars on them from hard work, and certain events which will not be explored or discussed here had enlarged the scar on his right eye, thankfully without damaging the eye itself. He flashed his gleaming razor-sharp teeth, his arms held up in a defensive position in front of him. He was not bruised by the several blasts by which he had been struck, but his hardening had been severely depleted in several areas in exchange.

[Kirishima Eijiro]

[Quirk: Hardening]

[Eijiro's quirk makes his body harder than steel. It's the ultimate combination of offense and defense.]

And in front of them stood Bakugo Katsuki, considerably more foul mouthed, standing 5' 81/4", and with a face only a mother could love, but impressive muscle of his own. His intelligent red eyes glared at his opponents, sporting an acid burn on his left shoulder, a bruise on his left cheek, courtesy of Eijiro, a scrape on his right and left forearm, from Eijiro and Fumikage respectively, and a broken (though not misaligned) nose from the one good hit Izuku had managed to get in. He also had damaged the nerves in his hands from unleashing a blast that was an attempt to get them all at once.

[Bakugo Katsuki]

[Quirk: Explosions]

[Katsuki can let loose nitro-sweat, which he can ignite on his heated palms. The more sweat he produces, the stronger his blasts become.]

Behind him were several kids from Aldera High. Specifically, a boy who's quirk made him look like a vicious bodybuilder, the two from Katsuki and Izuku's child hood who could respectively extend his fingers and grow wings, a girl who could turn her hands into knives, a kid who could cover himself in rocks, a girl who could throw balls of fire, and a boy who could transform his teeth into overly large fangs. They thought it would be a good idea to join Katsuki in attacking Deku and the losers who bothered hanging out with the "quirkless dork." They discovered that it was a huge mistake all too late, as they were all gasping for air or flat on their asses, mostly he latter.

"*Pant Pant* Are you *Pant* done now, Kacchan?" The quirkless boy in question asked, determined to put this struggle to a close. "I *Pant* think we've gone on *Pant* long enough for today."

Katsuki snarled, but didn't allow the idea of leaving without getting one more in. "Just don't breathe on my territory Deku. It'd be a shame if the staff had to clean shit off their entrance." With that, he went to grab his school bag, and stomped off, as opposed to running, which would make him look like a little bitch.

Izuku and company didn't bother waiting for the rest of the kids to leave, simply helping each other stand and move, as they gathered their book bags and made their way towards the green-eyed teen's house.

"I honestly don't know how you do it, Izu!" Mina steamed on their trek. "Having to go to the same school as that jerk. I mean honestly, will U.A. even let him past their gates?!"

"Izu" sighed. He had stopped counting the number of times any of them had this conversation. "Of course they will, Mina-chan." He responded patiently. "They don't just give performance lessons. They'll have a lot to teach him about attitude. And he will most certainly pass their tests. He's worked too hard to throw away an opportunity like that out of incompetence." Kacchan Had indeed worked hard, but it was not beyond Izuku that he was lucky. His parents had two almost useless powers that just so happened to meld into a powerful and multipurpose one like what their son had. So what? Izuku knew very well that the hypothetical situations of Katsuki having something less than impressive or – god forbid – being quirkless were irrelevant for just that reason; they were situations that _had not_ and _would not_ take place. Kacchan had an awesome quirk, he worked to hone it, he studied hard, and he even had plenty of ideas for special moves.

"Even so," Eijiro chimed in, "Aren't you just a little worried about him starting a fight at the wrong place and time?"

"Not in the slightest." The answer came without hesitation. "U.A. isn't like any other school. It's doubted they tolerate in-fighting outside of practical training. How would it produce so many admirable heroes, otherwise?"

Tsuyu added in her two cents. "And even if he manages to corner one of the students, they won't be anything like the kids at any of our schools. Kero. He won't be a big fish in a little pond anymore."

Izuku couldn't and didn't want to stop himself from smiling. He really was lucky to have a friend like Izuku who understood his points so well.

"And it's doubtful he'll ever be popular."

Even if she didn't always agree with them.

"His burning light suppressed by the dark of the truth." Fumikage muttered. Nobody even bothered glancing back. They were a used to his edgy musings. Even Mina!

"A-All doubts aside," Izuku said "We've still got work to do too. Mina, I hope you've managed to stay awake in class lately." He looked at his pink friend pointedly. He was slightly teasing her, but the seriousness of the question was all there.

Mina flushed slightly at the chastisement, her cheeks puffing up in slight frustration. "Uggghh, _yes_ , Izu. I promise. I know how important it is." Izuku had known her for years. Add on top of it that she was so hopelessly expressive, and of _course_ he could tell when she was lying. Thankfully, she was not. "I still don't understand it all too well, but I figured what I should take note of, like you showed me." She was a little ashamed, in all honesty. He had gone to the effort of setting up their study groups, and everyone else pretty much expected it when she slacked off.

Izuku beamed at her. "Daijobu, Micchan." He laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "What matters is your making the effort to learn it. You know we're here to help you with the actual learning part." He dropped to her back, rubbing small circles to comfort her. "And besides, if you work hard like you've been doing, it won't be like that forever. You're more capable at it than you think."

Mina really could not stop herself there and then. She jumped the short distance and immediately pulled him into one of her infamous hugs, her face flushing lilac both from the praise and out of slight enjoyment of the admittedly rather personal contact. "And what also matters is no matter what, you're still the sweetest in the universe!" Izuku barely flushed at how closely his excitable companion was, even when they began rubbing cheeks. He was very used to her infamous hugs. He was not the only one. All of them, even Fumikage had been the recipient of her hugs more than once, but sometimes it seemed like he got them more than the others. So ready to display affection to everyone within hugging distance. … that was probably his favorite thing about her.

Eijiro and Fumikage snickered as their alien-shaped friend latched onto the resident hero fanboy as thought glued to him. Tsuyu had to hold back a snort. Asui Tsuyu may have been the type to speak her mind, but that didn't mean she always knew the appropriate thing to say. She did, however, know when it was _in_ appropriate to say something, such as how painful it was to see how oblivious Izuku-chan was to Mina's crush on him. Maybe he had boiled to down to her simply being generally unabashed, she could understand that, but did it not occur to him that Mina embraced him more than them? More than _she_ got to hug him?

And the frog girl was not jealous that Izuku was consoling Mina. Not. _One._ _Bit!_ The adorkable nerd wasn't her love interest in the slightest! Just her best friend, who she had known since they had made a pact they were supposed to be too young to understand, who she trusted without a second thought, who had a body better than most their age, who's quirks (and lack of an actual quirk) she knew down to the smallest detail, and who made her heart absolutely _race_ whenever he smiled, hugged her or told her exactly what she needed to hear…

 _Damn him!_ Tsuyu was grateful to be gifted with such incredible self-control, because otherwise, she would no doubt be grinding her teeth to dust right now.

Eventually, they made it to the Midoriya Household and walked inside after taking their shoes off.

"Okaa-san, Outo-san! Tadaima."

"Welcome home, sweetie!" his Mother responded from the living room. She and Hisashi were currently watching a news report, without really paying attention to it. They had no changed much over the years, if anything, they were better looking than before, having joined their son on many of his training regimes. He held back for them, they could tell, but they were too busy being in awe that their little boy did training like this on a daily basis!

"You bring your girlfriends home, son?" Que the typical Hisashi-style Dad questions.

Izuku flushed hotly. "They aren't my girlfriends, Otou-san! And I _did_ bring my friends home!" Tsuyu and Mina giggled at his flustered look. It wasn't something they got to see as often as they used to. "We'll just get to studying right away!" With that, they moved straight to Izuku's bedroom. Over the years, Izuku a come to understand the importance of money, so he kept his All Might merchandise collection limited to… limited edition items. He filled in the blanks with merchandise belonging to other heroes he idolized, including Edge Shot, The Pussycats, and Ryukyu.

As soon as they got inside, they got straight down to work. All the while, Izuku silently contemplated his relationship with his companions.

Not for an instant was he wondering why they were friends. Never! He would be grateful for his sensei forcing him to train on his day off just to form his bonds with them. He would follow them anywhere! He wanted to take a moment to think about what they meant to him.

Eijiro was, in all clear honestly, Izuku's best friend. Kacchan was a guilty idol of his, and they were friends, once upon a time. Now… he didn't know _what_ he was to him. Eicchan, on the other hand, was easier to establish. Ever since they had met, the hardener had followed him through thick and thin, protective quirk or no. His brand of earnest, Izuku could honestly say he found in his comics and movies. They trusted each other without a second thought, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

His friendship with Fumikage only seemed ambiguous if you had never spent a _day_ with the two of them. It wasn't just the Dark Shadow user's bird head that made it hard for him to make friends. It was the way his eyes seemed locked in a glare, like another red-eye individual he knew. Izuku preferred to compare it to the intense stare of interest that a hawk's brows seemed set in. And it suited him. Fumikage was very observant, though he often allowed others to think what they would, as opposed to letting others know of his opinion at every instance he had one. And unlike Eijiro, he handed out trust sparsely and wisely. Izuku found this helped balance out Eijiro and himself, who trusted others for their sake. **(A/N: That makes sense, right?)**

Mina and Tsuyu were… confusing. In their own ways, and for the same reason. Izuku had not forgotten that there was a time when he couldn't even look at a girl without feeling like a pathetic mess. He was infinitely (and silently) grateful to them for (inadvertently) teaching them that it was no different from talking to a boy.

Unless you happened to like them on another level.

Izuku really couldn't help it. He had become infatuated with the two girls. And not just because they were pretty, either. They had that classic case of contrasting charms. Tsuyu was a blunt, studious, and level-headed girl, and while as emotional as the rest of them, she never let it mess up her judgement. And she had judgement enough to choose her friends on the spot! Izuku always considered her the ideal emotional pillar. He always enjoyed leaning on her when things seemed too hard to handle, when he couldn't consult Jukei-sensei. Mina was playful, energetic, and ready to have the best time possible at the drop of a hat. She was a little lazy, but her heart was always in the right place. With an open mind and a wonderful sense of humor, Izuku couldn't have asked for a better teacher on how to make friends, or even get along with strangers. Both of them were so unique and incredible, and he had no idea just what sense he liked them in, and it was making him burst at the seams trying to figure it out.

Oh well, he decided. It could wait until after he had gone over his chemistry assignment. When was that due again? Oh right, in 3 weeks.

…

Not nearly enough time.

* * *

"Okay," Fumikage said, "I think we've covered everything. I feel as though I am still in class."

"Agreed." Izuku said. "Does anyone have anything else they want to go over?"

"I've got nothing that warrants concern." Tsuyu assured them.

"Alright then. Mina, Excellent on environmental science. I knew you could do it."

Mina blushed lightly at the praise. Izuku had used her homework as a chance to quiz her personally, and had given her an 87 on her third try. She personally preferred Izuku as a teacher. He involved her and the others in the exercises, rather than just droning on in a lecture. He even managed to make it – dare she say it- fun!

Maybe it was just because he was the one doing the teaching.

"Well," Eijiro got up and stretched, "See you, Izuku. I'm pretty tuckered out, so I'm just gonna head home."

"Me too." Mina Pitched in. "I think all that brain work actually affected my body." Izuku snorted. Only Micchan.

Tsuyu, for her part, simply nodded silently.

"I will head home as well." Fumikage decided. "Today's events have been… more trying than usual."

With that everyone then headed out the door, Tsuyu barely trudging along.

On the way out the door, the bug-eyed girl stopped short. And looked back at Izuku. A thought had occurred to her, one that had, for some reason or other, never occurred to her when she thought about the pros and cons of dating Izuku, or of dating in general.

She wouldn't be young forever.

She already knew this of course. All living things age. But she never really considered the implications of it. She wouldn't always have that chance hanging right in front of her. She wouldn't always have her friends, her parents wouldn't always be around, she could only stay in school for so long… and she wouldn't always have potential boyfriend material _brushing shoulders_ with her. She had known Izuku for a long time, and she would not be herself if she could not perceive the slightest possibility that he liked her too, on whatever level. But if she wanted to take that chance, she would need to take a risk first. It was so obvious that she needed to make the first move. Not that she minded. It was a chance to outdo _Mina's_ boldness!

"Izuku-chan!"

The named individual turned around in time to see Tsuyu jump at him just in time to catch her. He skidded back slightly, just barely able to stand up to her uncharacteristic glomp. When he re-composed himself, he looked down to see Tsyu hugging him tightly and looking up at him with that smile of hers. And ask a question that made his heart stop in excitement.

"I like you, Izuku. Will you go out with me?"

Where everyone else could see and hear them.

Izuku had never been so grateful for being put on the spot in his life, and he never would be that grateful again, period.

* * *

 ** _Six Months Later_**

 ** _The Streets of Shizuoka_**

Izuku was currently documenting a pro hero that had just debuted under the name Mount Lady. He could say without a doubt that he was in a wonderful mood. How could he not be? He got to refine his documentation skills again!

"Gigantification, huh? Well, she's displaying looks and attitude potentially worthy of a country-wide rank, but her performance will depend on whether she can control the size she grown to and how well she can minimize damage…"

An old man who had been watching the fight with him popped up from behind him. "What're ya doin' there fanboy, taking notes? You wanna be a hero too, huh?"

Izuku turned to face the old man, and couldn't help but answer from the bottom of his heart. "Yes!" he said, wearing a smile like the sun, "More than anything!"

* * *

 **Okay, I'm very well aware that my "I just met these kids. I want to hang out with them." bit was more than a little shoddy. But that's what little kids do. They meet in random places (we used to call them _parks_ ) and in a spur-of-the-moment decision, say they want to try and spend time with each other. _Two years_. I think Izuku's parents have decided, at some point, they can trust him to know what he's doing.**

 **And I'm not bashing Bakugo, though I _really_ want to. Let it be known that he was fighting 5 of his _future classmates_ of the _world's greatest hero school_ , and, even considering his _backup_ , those classmates are _considerably_ stronger than they would have been in another lifetime. I'm honestly wondering if I went overboard with _their_ injuries.**

 **That last part was intended to get us caught up with the actual series. Also, Izuku-smiles. Nuff said.**

 **And What's More, I'll be adding Character profiles, because of boredom. Let it be known that this will be a middle finger to the official character book. So, first up:**

 **Ikinuku Jukei**

 **Alias: Backlash Hero: Penance**

 **Age: 26**

 **Gender: Male**

 **Height: 190.5cm / 6' 2"**

 **Weight: 87.9969 kgs /194lbs.**

 **Eyes: Grey**

 **Hair: Brown, short, spiked backwards**

 **Nationality: Japanese**

 **Date of Birth: August 12th**

 **Handedness: Right**

 **Blood Type: B**

 **Likes: Soda, Birds, Free running**

 **Dislikes: Lectures (Giving _and_ receiving)**

 **Character Theme: 3 Days Grace - Riot**

 **Quirk: Accelerated Regen, Pain-induced Empowerment – Born with a rare case of dual quirks, Jukei Can regenerate massive injuries and acquire temporarily increased physical power. The amount of power he receives matches the amount of damage he takes by a factor of four.**

 **Costume: Black Arm braces with fingerless gloves and red streaks running from knuckles atop index and pinky fingers to black shoulder guards. He wears a red Macho wrestler-style mask**

 **Fighting Style: Close Quarters, Swarmer/in-fighter**

 _ **Skills:**_

 **High Pain Tolerance: After being on the receiving end of countless bruises, cuts, burns, and other such wounds, Jukei can fight through cripplng damage, even when his regenerative quirk stops working.**

 **Immense strength: Even without the increase of strength from Pain Stock, Jukei can push a car.**

 **High-tier martial artist: Jukei has taken up Taijutsu and Ninjutsu to act further on his potential as a CQC type of hero.**

 **Natural Mentor: Jukei has no issue teaching what he has learned to others, regardless of their age. He can present the task or lesson in such a way that someone at their exact level can understand**

 _ **Special Moves:**_

 **Breaker Shot: Jukei focuses all of his power stock energy into a single straight jab.**

 **Punishment Axe: Jukei performs a deadly chop with a powered-up arm.**

 **Rail Nail: Jukei focuses all of his gathered energy into a single finger or multiple fingers, reinforcing them to the point they can poke through brick like paper.**

 **Penance Rocket: Jukei propels himself into the air, or an opponent.**

 **Stats**

 **Power - 4/5; B**

 **Speed - 3/5; C**

 **Technique - 5/5; A**

 **Intelligence - 4/5; B**

 **Cooperativeness - 5/5; A**


	3. An Apology, a Correction, and an Offer

**Bet you didn't expect to hear from me so soon, did ya?**

 **Well, I've had this particular chapter in the works for a while, truth be told.**

 **Review Answering Time:**

 **Johnny Spectre: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh my god, that's hilarious! And I can definitely appreciate someone who has a thing for the classics! Some poor souls nowadays haven't even** _ **heard**_ **of The Dark Crystal.**

 **Chimchar14: Your praise fills me with joy. I am grateful that Izuku's mentor ended up not being an expendable plot device. I had thought about adding just the girls to speed up the pacing of the harem, but then I considered the benefits of having same gender friends, such as how to form** _ **platonic**_ **bonds. And I agree, they are the cutest pack of badasses ever.**

 **Lightningblade49: It's true, Izuku will be better prepared to handle it, but he won't quite be able to properly use it all the way … (foreshadowing)**

 **I agree it seems like Izuku is generally too forgiving. But think: he knows Katsuki better than anyone else, barring his own parents. He's known him since they could walk, and since** _ **before he got his quirk**_ **. He knows that Katsuki used to walk the fence. And in Izuku's eyes, he has a lot going for him; his vicious tenacity, his creativity, his surprising intelligence… Izuku looks and sees more than just a powerful quirk and an ugly face.**

 **Wildebranch: Maybe I will. Maybe I will…**

 **Berserker0089: I established who would be in the harem in the** _ **first**_ **chapter! Read the fucking bold! Am I just writing to myself?! Good God!**

 **TooneyTheBoi: Okay, first: it's "weeaboo." Get your lingo right before** _ **you**_ **criticize** _ **me**_ **. Second, they're Japanese, and I'm going to the trouble of using Japanese words to separate them from their foreign counterparts. I'll be making use of words from other languages as well Also, grammar errors? Who taught** _ **you**_ **English?**

 **JSua: You are absolutely right. Fanficition does say much about its writer. For example: A Bleach erotica writer named Whackybiscuit is a giant bag of dildos who loves poking fun at the series protagonist in the worst ways.**

 **Scandinavian Sensation: Holy… just…wow. Thank you. I was motivated, but now I'm making it a personal promise that this will reach the second season conclusion before the next semester.**

 **This may not seem significant to you readers, but for the most part I will be following the dialogue of the Dub, not the Sub.**

 **Also, I don't know if you remembered, but a while back I put up a pole on whether these around-the-world students would keep their names or just be from different countries without the names to show it. The result: 3-to-1, they get new names to go with new nationalities! Yay, creativity liberties!**

 **So, to start off:**

 **Yagi Toshinori/All Might - Garrick Lamont(American)**

 **I mean, come on, think about it. Special moves named after U.S. cities and states; use of English during exclamations; an Aim-to-Pass** _ **American**_ **Dream Plan... Y-you see were I'm going with this?**

 **Just so It's clear, I determine names by either finding foreign equivalents of the names they have, or finding what it is that would best suit them. Or I just use a name with the same beginning letters.**

 **Now that that's taken care of, time to go beyond… PLUS… ULTRAAAAAA!**

* * *

"It's super-nice to meet you." – normal speech

" _Where are you looking?!"_ – speaking with emphasis/ speaking in a flashback

 _Is he worried?_ – thinking/ flashback dialogue

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" - screaming

" _WE'RE A'LL GONNA DIE"_ – Screaming with emphasis

" **Detroit Smash"** – special move

" **Hope has arrived! Because I am here!"** \- Buff All Might speaking

{READY? START} – Speaker phone speech (Present Mic, in other words)

* * *

 _ **Later**_

 _ **Aldera Middle School**_

Izuku was sitting in his seat near the back of the classroom, his previous enthusiasm almost impossible to distinguish, as though it had ever existed. In spite of his strength, he wished dearly that his classmates saw that there was more to him than is quirklessness. It was a good thing he has made some friends, but they weren't here, and that made it harder to fit in. He was currently working on his Mount Lady entry, while the teacher started talking about everyone's lives as students. It wasn't really beneficial to his current academics, so he had no need to actually listen.

"Alright listen up," Said the teacher at the front wearing a receding hairline, sweater vest and jacket ensemble. "As third year students, it's time for you to start thinking seriously about your futures. I _could_ pass around these career aptitude tests…" he held in his left hand a thick stack of papers, which he slammed against his desk. "But why bother?!" He said with an intense look in his eyes as students began to flex their quirks. He tossed the papers away with much enthusiasm, a dreamy smile on his face. "We all know you wanna go for the hero course!" The class cheered in approval as they showed off their quirks and, by extension, their enthusiasm. "Yes, yes, you all have impressive quirks. But no quirk usage in public, so settle down."

 _Less than half of them really have quirks that would make them hero material,_ Izuku thought to himself, _and only if they trained with them a lot harder_. Suddenly, a gruff voice rang out through the classroom as a boy with ash-blonde hair, red eyes, and his feet on the desk spoke up.

"Oi, teach," Katsuki Bakugo said, "Don't lump me in with this bunch 'a losers. I'm the real deal, but these guys'll be lucky to end up as sidekicks for some busted D-lister. *chuckles*"

The class roared out their disapproval at the blonde's blatant disrespect for their abilities.

"Get over yourself Katsuki!"

"You think you're better than us?!"

"Screw you!"

 _Sometimes I_ really _hate being right,_ Izuku thought a little ruefully. _Particularly when it turns out to be fuel for Kacchan's… general behavior_.

Katsuki responded to their yells with an oddly amused expression. "Let's go! I'll take you all on!"

"I see." The teacher said, checking Katsuki's records. "You've got impressive test scores. Maybe you will get into U.A." At these words, hushed whispers broke out amongst the class.

"U.A.? Is he serious?!"

"The international school?"

That place is supposed to have an acceptance rate of 0.03%!"

"Not just students from Japan either, they take students from all over the world!"

"It's _impossible_ to get into!"

These comments only beefed up Katsuki's ego further. He decided to make it clearer to the rest just how high up he was aiming, and chose that last line to cut in. "That's why it's the only place in the world worthy of me." He jumped up on top of his desk in proud declaration. "I _aced_ all the mock tests! I'm the only on in this school who's getting into U.A! I'll end up more popular than All Might himself, AND BE THE RICHEST HERO OF ALL TIME! PEOPLE ALL ACROSS THE WORLD WILL KNOW WHO I AM! AND IT ALL START'S WITH U.A. HIGH!"

"Oh yeah, Midoriya. Didn't you wanna go to U.A. too?"

To his credit, Izuku stayed completely calm and fully enthusiastic as his name was called to attention. "Hai!" He said, standing up, both hands on his desk. Although, he couldn't help but look around as the entire class – sans Bakugo, who was in shock that his proud declaration had been cut short, because of _him_ of all people – stared at him. Few of them actually laughed, and those that did realized after a few seconds that there wasn't as much amusement as there should have been.

Many of those who had joined Katsuki in trying to belittle the class's resident nerd and straight-A student attended school in this particular classroom. And it was not lost on them that, more than once, it wasn't just one of his quirked friends that had made them regret their decision. The supposed "quirkless Deku" knew how to fight, and how to make it _hurt_.

Izuku decided to break the tense silence. "It there anything you wanted to discuss in particular, sir?"

"DEKU!"

He didn't get to hear his response as Katsuki slammed his palm down on his desk, the force and brightness of which caused Izuku to slightly flinch backwards enough that he accidentally tripped over his chair, sending him sprawling backwards onto the ground. He looked up to see Katsuki in front of where he was standing.

"Listen up, Deku! You're _worse_ than the rest of these scrubs, you quirkless wannabe! You really think they'd let someone like you in when they could have me?!"

"Kacchan…" Izuku said sadly, moving up calmly from his place on the floor, looking at him imploringly. "You know we've both wanted to be heroes since we were little." He brought his eyes down, his hair covering them. "They don't have to pick between students…" Katsuki sneered at this. "But if they did…" He looked the blonde bomber dead in the eye, calm fury quite apparent in his suddenly hardened green eyes. "They certainly wouldn't pick you, not with your record, and not with your temperament." Katsuki's self-satisfied grin dropped at this. "You wanna be a hero? You need more than just bravado and force. And as you are now, those two things are all you've got. I'm going to U.A. to be the greatest hero in the world. Like it or not, you can't stop me!"

That may have been the wrong thing to say, as Katsuki's gaze suddenly became murderous, and tiny pops went off in his hand. Izuku subconsciously went into a fighting stance to intercept whatever attack Kacchan would throw… with his right first, of course. This was honestly not the first time they had fought one-on-one in all these years. Several times Katsuki had caught him training to be a hero, or Izuku had caught Katsuki terrorizing someone, or Katsuki intended to terrorize _him_ , and they came to blows, and his friends weren't there to defend him. Izuku still came up short due to the sheer brute force and superior range behind Katsuki's attacks, but certainly not without getting plenty of hits in. He was worried this time would be no different. Around him, the class moved away slightly to stay as clear of the crossfire as they could.

"Dekuuu….!"

"Alright, that's enough!" The teacher's voice suddenly cut through the tense atmosphere. "Both of you please get back into your seats. Katsuki, I just said no use of quirks in public."

The two of them went back to their desks, but Katsuki shot a glare back to Izuku that promised this was not over.

* * *

 _ **12:02 PM**_

 _ **Downtown**_

"EEeeeeeek!"

"HA-HA-HA!"

"Hey! Get back here!"

"Scream all you want, suckers! This cash is mine!"

Bystanders could only look on as a hideous man with brownish-green slime for a body and two yellow eyeballs with red irises ran through the streets.

"What happened?" One of them asked.

"Looks like another small time crook tried to use his quirk to pull off a heist. He's makin' a run for it right now."

"Someone's gonna try to catch him… right?"

"This kind of thing happens all the time. People who abuse their quirks just seem to pop out of nowhere."

Behind them, a frail figure came out and eavesdropped on the situation, and suddenly shifted to a larger, far stronger form.

"It looks like there's no one who can stop him."

" **Yes there is."**

The pedestrians looked behind them, and were in shock and awe at the man they saw.

The villain glanced back behind him, and his eyes widened in fear.

" **Because** _ **I**_ **am here!"**

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile**_

 _ **Back at Aldera Middle School**_

It was finally time to go home as Izuku checked his phone. He had just finished his conclusive entry on Mt. Lady, and decided she would neither make a very big impact (no pun intended), nor a good reference for tactics. He pulled out his journal in preparation to tear out her pages and add them to the reject folder, when Katsuki suddenly plucked it out of his hands.

"I don't know what you think you're doin', Deku, but we're not done here."

Suddenly his cronies were up behind him. "What 'ya got there, Bakugou?" He moved the journal to give them a better view, simultaneously moving it out of Izuku's desperate reach.

"Huh? You're taking notes on how to become a hero?"

"That's so pathetic!"

"Hahaha!"

Izuku was not a fan of causing a scene. It was for this reason that it did not occur to him to break out into violence, instead resorting to earnest please. "That's not funny, guys! Just give it back-"

*BOOM*

"AAGH!"

Izuku was almost in shock as he looked at his ruined notebook. "…That's so mean!"

And then the bombing douche threw it out the window. "WHY-Y-Y!" Before anything else happened, Izuku could tell Bakugou was about to go on another prattle.

"Most first-rate heroes show potential early on." He began. "People look at them and just _know_ they're destined for greatness. Once I'm the only student from this school to get into U.A., people will start talkin' about _me_ like that. They'll realize I'm legit, the next big thing. That's not ego talk. I just know I'm good."

"~Ego.~" The finger-kid said under his breath.

Katsuki then placed one of his burning palms on Izuku's shoulder, burning his uniform. The green-haired nerd didn't even flinch, as he shot Katsuki a frustrated look, which was blatantly ignored. "Here's a little bit of advice nerd: don't even _think_ of applying, or else."

Izuku's glare could have rendered diamonds soft and runny. "Fuck you, Kacchan! I don't need your permission!" He had honestly forgiven Kacchan, really. After all, it was him who had inspired him, and was even responsible for Izuku's… more battle-prone side. But he didn't get to decide what course Izuku's future took.

Katsuki was taking aback by this response, but simply sneered and walked off, violently brushing shoulder with Izuku as he did. His followers were close behind him.

"What's it gonna take for him to get it?" Said the one with the fingers. "He'll never be a hero. Better to find out now rather than later."

Right before Katsuki left, he turned back to Izuku one more time. "You know, if you really wanna be a hero that badly, there might actually be another way. Just pray you'll be born with a quirk in your next life – and take a swan dive off the roof of the building."

That was the last straw.

Izuku turned, fury clear in his eyes, and stomped towards Katsuki - heedless of the small sparks Katsuki used with intentions to intimidate – grabbed the slightly taller boy by the collar of his uniform and slammed him against the wall.

"YOU DUMBASS!" Izuku yelled. "YOU DON'T GO AROUND TELLING PEOPLE TO KILL THEMSELVES! WHAT IF I ACTUALLY DID IT?! WHAT WOULD YOU DO THEN?!"

Katsuki paused almost instantly, not anticipating the question in the slightest. Behind them, the fodder were looking at each other nervously, clearly also not expecting the question, nor knowing how to answer it.

"WELL?!"

Katsuki just stared blankly. It was clear to Izuku waiting for an answer was a wasted endeavor, so he simply shoved Katsuki away and took off in a huff.

Katsuki continued to stare into space. He didn't even try to follow his "target.

* * *

 _That idiot!_ Izuku thought to himself, as he walked towards a Dark alley outside the school building. _Is he really trying to be a hero? His abysmal attitude always makes it hard to tell sometimes._ He then found his journal – ruined, wet, and turned to fish food – and plucked it out of the backwater koi pond. When he got to the front gates, a figure was there, trying hard to blend in.

…

Jukei Ikinuku, aka the Backlash hero: Penance, was currently in his hero costume under his casual red and black striped hoodie, his costume's cleats on his feet, and his gloved hands in his pockets. Jukei had changed a lot physically in the last two years, now six feet tall. A brown soul patch adorned his chin, and a scar was on his left hollowed cheek. Upon seeing Izuku, who was walking with his head down, he quickly called out to him among the crowd. Izuku's posture did not escape him. It seemed Katsuki was still out for his head.

"Hey there kiddo." Jukei said, moving to Izuku's side, wrapping an arm around him. "Another rough day?"

"Yeah." Izuku admitted shamefully. "The teacher brought up our futures since we're third years, and he pretty much announced to the rest of the class that I was going to the same high school as Kacchan."

"Let me guess, the teacher called you out?"

"Well I don't think he meant to single me out. He probably just wanted to bring Katsuki down when he started screaming about his goals at the top of his lungs."

Jukei couldn't stop himself from ruffling Izuku's curls. "You're too earnest for this world."

They walked in silence for a while, before Izuku spoke up.

"You know sensei it was so long ago, but I still can't help but look back to when it all started."

Jukei grimaced. He remembered what Izuku had told him about the day he had been diagnosed as quirkless.

* * *

 _A four-year-old Izuku was scurrying through the house, an All Might action figure in his hand and a smile on his face. He ran towards his mother who was at the sink. He bounced up and down around her in excitement._

" _Hurry up, Mom! It's computer time!"_

 _Inko turned to look at her son. Hisashi was watching the scene from his place at the table, a book about financial tips in hand._

" _Already?" Inko said. "okay, just give me a minute."_

…

" _Hurry! Hurry!" Izuku rocked back and forth in his seat, excitement overtaking him._

" _Geez, think you've added 10,000 likes to this one_ yourself _, Izuku." Inko commented as she set up the computer. "I don't know why you like it._ I _think it's scary."_

 _Izuku simply grinned and sat up straight as the video began to play. It was disaster footage of a fire in Seattle, Washington._

" _We're getting word now." Said a man looking to the camera, and then back to the surrounding area "He's already saved over two hundred-fifty people and it hasn't even been 10 minutes. This is… this is crazy!"_

 _But_ he _loved it because it also featured the debut of the greatest hero the world had ever known._

 _A large man was standing on top of debris, carrying several unconscious civilians on his back. "Look, he's still bringing more!"_

 _The hero in question was seven feet and two-and-a-half inches tall, with and overly muscular form. He had short blonde hair with two particular strands that stood atop his head. His hero costume was made of spandex, with a red symbol on the torso that somewhat represented a "Y." The symbol had a white diamond at its center, with white lines connected to it that trace from his chest to his back shoulders. The lines were trimmed with the aforementioned red symbol. The symbol appeared to have wings on the sides that ran from atop his torso before ending around his back. Over his back was a similar red and white design absent of the white diamond. Large white patches with red trims covered each side of his hips before ending at his lower thighs. He wore a gold belt that had a silver buckle with red eyes. His forearm sleeves were colored in gold that each had white lines covered in blue accents over his wrists. He had spiked fins on the sides of his arms and his feet were covered in shin-length gold boots trimmed with white and red accents. But the most prominent of all the man's features, was the large smile that adorned his face, even in the midst of this chaos. This was the man Izuku watched this terrifying scene just to see._

" _ **Fear not citizens!"**_ _The man said in a deep, booming voice that absolutely radiated positivity._ _ **"Hope has arrived!"**_

 _Izuku's grin widened to its limit, and his already bright eyes positively shined with joy._

" _ **Because**_ **I** _ **am here**_ **!"**

 _Izuku never failed to be blown away by this man's appearance, his strength, his smile, or his promise that everyone would be okay because of him._

" _He's the coolest in the universe!" He said, raising his All Might figure into the air. "And once I get my quirk, I'm gonna be a hero just like you!_ _Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"_

 _Inko and Hisashi listened from the living room, and couldn't help but become a little worried._

…

"… _Sorry, kid. It's not gonna happen."_

 _Izuku's shock was palpable as he dropped his All Might action figure. His parents had taken him to the hospital to get him his quirk diagnosis. The doctor was a stout, bald man with a grey mustache and goggles over his eyes. Hisashi was trying very hard not to scorch the man before him for putting it so tactlessly. Inko was trying a different approach._

" _Oh dear, so you think there's something wrong then? All of his other classmates have begun to show signs."_

 _The doctor adjusted his goggles with one hand. "Pardon me for asking, ma'am, but you and your husband are 4_ _th_ _generation, yes? What quirks to you possess?"_

" _Oh, nothing too special." Inko answered "I can levitate small objects towards me."_

" _And I can breathe fire." Hisashi said, still feeling tempted to demonstrate on this man for to blatantly crushing his son's hopes._

" _Izuku should have gotten a variant of one of these quirks, or a combination of the two," The doctor said "but after viewing his x-rays, I don't think he's going to. You see, when super powers first began appearing, there were many research studies conducted, and doctors discovered a link between the bones in a person's foot and their likely hood of developing a quirk. People with quirks only have one joint in their pinky toes. Their bodies are a more streamlined version of the human form." He turned to an X-ray of Izuku's foot, and tapped on it. "But you can see here that Izuku has_ two _joints in his pinky, like roughly twenty percent of the population these days. Based on the research that's available, it's safe to say you're son isn't going to develop a quirk."_

…

 _It was raining that night. And not just outside._

 _Izuku was still watching the video from earlier that day, his eyes still on the screen, full of tears yet to be shed. His parents were by the door. Their son had been silent all the way back from the hospital. Their sweet little boy hadn't reacted to anything, just watching that same video over and over, his back to them in the chair, and it tore_ _them up inside._

 _Suddenly, the screen had paused, stopping on a scene where the camera was zoomed in on All Might's ever-smiling face._

" _See that, Dad? Mom?" Izuku said, his voice so_ small _. "Even when things get bad, he never gives up. He always gets through, with a smile. Even when things seem hopeless, he never gives up."_

 _He turned in his chair to face them, and what they saw_ killed _them. He had a shaky hand pointed to the screen, his eyes flooded with unshed tears, and smiling! Of all things,_ smiling _!_

" _Do you think… I could be a hero too?"_

 _They didn't answer. They couldn't._

 _Instead, they moved towards him, rushing forward at the last step, and took his small body forward in a hug, both crying._

" _I'm sorry, Izuku!" Inko said. "I wish things were different!" And Izuku could no longer stop his own tears from following._

* * *

' _I wish things were different?'…'I'm sorry?'_ The current Izuku thought, _that's not what I needed you to say. Couldn't either of you see? My world was crumbling. There was only one thing I wanted to hear…_

Izuku had made a decision that day. No matter what anyone said, he _would_ be a hero. And he'd keep smiling. Just like _him_.

Then Izuku had met Jukei-sensei, and it all became more than he could have ever hoped for. He looked to his left, seeing his mentor looking straight ahead as they moved into a tunnel. All Might was his hero, his inspiration, but this man would forever be a close second.

Suddenly, they heard a noise not unlike the running of a faucet, except it was open-ended and it was gushing mud. Turning behind them, the two saw a large mass of green and brown sludge crawling out of the sewer, and looked at the two of them with yellow eyes and red irises. Large, triangular pointed teeth were shown in what was supposedly the mouth as it grinned wickedly.

"Hmm," the creature looked between the two of them, and turned to Jukei. "A medium sized invisibility cloak for me to hide in."

The two of them slowly stepped back, Izuku's right hand moving towards the small hole in the corner of his backpack. He didn't have time as the creature suddenly leaped towards them, forcing them to each move to a side, and Izuku suddenly dropped his notebook. They ended up rushing backwards, and the villain – definitely a villain – lashed out at each of them with a tentacle. Izuku jumped over it, while Jukei literally bent over backwards to dodge.

 _He didn't just rush us again?_ Izuku thought. _No doubt he can only use speed like that in short bursts. His body is viscous, so he clearly has some resistance to blunt force. Sensei's quirk won't work on him unless it can create vast amounts of force. That means I either have to step in when there's an opening, or we wait for another hero to arrive._

He looked to see his teacher move to one side, barely avoiding a downwards tentacle swipe. Suddenly, five tendrils of slime came at him, and Izuku panicked as the criminal's body engulfed his master's. Jukei struggled to breathe, to _get out_ , but to no avail.

"Nice try, pal," the slime said, "but by body's practically water. Clawin' away won't do any good. I didn't think _he'd_ be in town. Luckily I found you and the brat over there. You're a real hero to me."

 _Okay_ Izuku decided. _Opening it is._ His hand slowly inched back to his secret weapon.

*BAM*

Before anyone could make any new moves, the sewer cover suddenly flew up into the air, and catching everyone's attention was a huge figure with two standing strands of hair.

" **Worry not, citizens."** The man said. **"You are safe."**

Izuku looked on in amazement. All Might!

The villain panicked. He had run out of time!

" **Now that** _ **I**_ **am here, that is."**

In a panic, the big pile of grime slung a tentacle at him, and he hit Izuku instead, who was rendered unconscious. Fortunately, All Might caught him before he hit the ground. He then turned his attention to the villain, and came at him with a straight punch.

" **Texas… Smash!"**

So much force was created that the resulting wind pressure rendered the otherwise immune mass of substances unable to hold together, and he scattered, releasing a half-conscious Jukei.

* * *

" **Hey."**

Izuku's head throbbed as he woke up to the feeling of someone lightly tapping him on the cheek.

" **Wake up."**

What had happened? Oh yeah, the thought, his eyes dragging open. He and his mentor had been attacked by a slime villain, who knocked him out…

" **Hey!"**

Right before… he looked up at the person standing above him… they had been saved by…

" **Ah! Thought we lost you there."**

"EEK!" Izuku felt like he would pass out again as he shot to his feet. It was All Might! He wasn't in his hero gear, just a tight plain white t-shirt and khaki cargo pants. But it was definitely him!

Oh, Jukei-sensei was standing next to him too.

" **Well, it looks like you're moving around alright."** All might said. He turned to the adult pain stocker, who was fairly slack-jawed himself. **"Sorry to get you two caught up in my justice-ing. Usually I pay more attention to keeping bystanders safe, but it turns out Japan's sewer** **systems are pretty** **difficult to navigate. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"**

Izuku was only half paying attention as his lifelong idol stood before him.

"It's no big deal." Jukei responded, looking a little excited himself. "It's an honor to meet you though, one hero to another! Even though my quirk probably wouldn't've been of much use here."

" **Don't sweat it!"** All Might reassured him. **"You survived the experience, and now it's something you can learn from, to be better prepared for villains like this one in the future! And the next time, they'll be sorry."**

Jukei had just decided the man before him had earned his title as Symbol of Peace for more than just solving every chaos in his wake. He certainly knew what to say.

" **Anyway, thanks for your help. I've captured the evildoer!"** All Might held up a soda bottle, which contained the sludge villain inside of it. Not that Izuku was paying much attention to that.

 _All Might!_ Izuku thought weakly. _The greatest hero in the world. And he's standing right in front of me!_ He continued to gaze at the man in awe.

 _HE LOOKS SO MUCH COOLER IN PERSON!_

"Holy crap! I gotta get an autograph! I have a pen around here somewhere." The he spotted his hero journal not five feet in front of him. He hurriedly scraped it up. "Please sign my notebook…" he said, before flipping to the perfect page for his All-graph (You're goddamn right he called it that, and no he's not sorry if it sounds cheesy!). Only to find the #1 hero's name in large capital letters covering the pages, with a doodle of All Might's eyebrows and shadowed eyes. "HE ALREADY DID!" Izuku's response was to repeatedly bow his head in rapid succession. "Thank you! This will be an heirloom! A family treasure for generations to come!" and All Might flashed him a big thumbs up.

 _What happened to my brilliant apprentice?_ Jukei thought wistfully at the sight of this giddy fanboy.

" **Welp,"** All Might said, **"I've gotta get this guy to the police so they can take care of him. Stay out of trouble! See you around!"**

Izuku suddenly broke out of his reverie. "You're leaving?" he said, disappointment clear in his voice.

" **Hero's fight time, as well as villains."**

"Ain't that the truth." Jukei said. He walked up to his sole student. "C'mon, Izuku, we've still go training to attend to."

 _But there's still so much I want to ask him._ He green-haired boy thought. The previous event had rattled his confidence something fierce.

" **Now stand back! I'm taking off!"**

"No, wait!"

"Izuku!"

All Might flew right up into the sky.

" **THANKS FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT**!"

* * *

All Might suddenly felt an extra weight on his leg. He looked behind him to see that boy clinging on for dear life, and the man he was with clinging on to _him_!

"WAAAAAUUUUGGGHHHH!"

" **Hey, hey, hey, HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!**

"DON'T ASK ME! IZUKU! YOU LET GO OF ALL MIGHT THIS INSTANT!"

 **DO AS HE SAYS! I LOVE MY FANS, BUT THIS IS** _ **TOO MUCH**_ **!"**

"NO WAY! WE'RE FLYING! IF I LET GO NOW WELL _BOTH_ DIE!"

The two of them paused. " **That's a good point.** /That's fair."

"I just have a lot I want to ask you personally!" Izuku yelled through the rush of air. "You're my all-time favorite hero, All Might! Please!

" **All right. All right! Just keep your eyes and your mouth shut until we land."**

Izuku did as he was told while All Might looked for a space to land. He suddenly coughed a bit, a bit of blood dripping from his mouth.

 _ **Shit.**_

It wasn't long before All Might found the ideal building top, and Izuku and Jukei let go, wheezing slightly as they got to their feet. "My whole life just flashed before my eyes." The teen let out. He yelped as his regenerating mentor cuffed him on the back of the head.

"That was unbelievably reckless of you, Izuku!" He chided. "Thought you had learned better!"

" **He's quite right"** All Might said, walking off. **"Try banging on the door and yelling. Someone should come along eventually."**

"No, wait." Izuku protested.

" **I don't have time!"**

"I just need to know!"

This caught Jukei off guard. What did Izuku need to know that he couldn't ask him? _Or_ , he thought upon seeing his forlorn expression, _was it something he needed to confirm?_ What was on his mind?

Izuku, meanwhile, was having a little bit of trouble believing in himself after what had just transpired. He had let his guard down, and his teacher was in trouble, and he couldn't even do anything. Was being a hero as within his reach as he had come to believe? Sometimes, when he lost against Bakugo, or when he looked on as a hero took on a real villain, or rescued civilians, and he just stood to one side and watched… _In times like those,_ he thought to himself, _I really do feel like I'm a failure, like there's no hope for me. But even so, I'm not gonna give up. Despite everything, I still dream. And I have to know for sure…_

"Is it possible to become a hero, even if I don't have a quirk?" This made All Might stop dead in his tracks. "I'm a normal kid without any powers." He looked straight at All Might's back, ready to receive an answer dead on. "Could I ever hope to be someone like you?!"

Jukei was caught off guard by this. Didn't he already tell him it was possible? Was his word not enough? What had happened where he had been convinced that he was still so utterly powerele-

Oh.

 _Oh._

…Well, to be fair, against a villain made of goop, he probably wouldn't have felt too good either. Maybe he should just let the man answer, because like that moment ten years ago, he didn't know what to say.

All Might turned to look at the broccoli-headed teen **"Your quirkless?"** He wondered aloud. Suddenly, he jarred, and smoke started to come off of him in waves. The freckled teen and the pro hero panicked at seeing this, as well as how All Might seemed to be getting… smaller, until he was just small enough to be unseen behind the small clouds. They stood there, breathless with anticipation at what could have become of the all-star hero. As the clouds cleared up, what they saw next was completely unexpected. Standing where All Might stood was an unbelievably scrawny man with angular features and long limbs. He had spiky, disheveled hair with two bangs framing the sides of his face. He had a very long neck and his eyebrows were absent.

Izuku screamed again.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile**_

 _ **Tatooine Station**_

In an alleyway with no name, a pile of sludge trapped in a bottle was coming too from being one-shot. "Wh-…what happened?" he asked dizzily. Then, everything came right back to him. "Oh, yeah, that bastard. If it weren't for him I could've skipped town by now."

…

Katsuki Bakugou was usually pissed, but right now, he was more pissed than usual. Walking down the alley, a soda can in hand, and two scrubs following behind him who he didn't know the names of, it was easy to say he was pissed off for the same reason he usually was pissed off after school: Deku Midoriya. The extras rambled behind him.

"Don't you think you went a little too far with Midoriya today?" said the one with the extendable fingers and whale's teeth.

"Yeah, I've never seen him stand up to you." Said the one who could transform his teeth into fangs. He blinked. "I mean, not like that."

"It's like he was… I don't know… finally done with it." The other said. "Didn't you too used to be friends?"

"It's his own fault for getting' in my way." Katsuki replied, kicking a bottle out of frustration. Katsuki thought back to what Deku had said.

" _You know we've both wanted to be heroes since we were little." He brought his eyes down, his hair covering them. "They don't have to pick between students…" Katsuki sneered at this. "But if they did…" He looked the blonde bomber dead in the eye, calm fury quite apparent in his suddenly hardened green eyes. "They certainly wouldn't pick you, not with your record, and not with your temperament."_

" _YOU DON'T GO AROUND TELLING PEOPLE TO KILL THEMSELVES! WHAT IF I ACTUALLY DID IT?! WHAT WOULD YOU DO THEN?!"_

Katsuki's grip around his soda can tightened. "Someone's gotta teach that nerd how the world works!" He blew but the soda can and threw it to the side. "I hate it when he talks heroes!"

The extras looked at each other.

"Hey I got an Idea." said the one with the transforming teeth. "We should go to the arcade, get your mind of it, ya know?"

Katsuki accepted the idea with a grunt.

"Or we can sneak into the bar at the station," finglongers suggested with a smirk, "pick up some ladies."

"Now that's a good idea."

"Idiots!" Katsuki yelled at them. "If we get caught, there's no way I'll get into U.A.!"

Suddenly, Katsuki's companions were bewildered by something directly behind Katsuki, who turned around to see a mass of sludge with eyes and big sharp teeth grinning at him wickedly.

"Perfect! I like a skin suit with some fire! Hahaha!"

* * *

 **Back at the top of a random building**

Izuku and Jukei were still very much shaken, the former stuttering incoherently while the later was in a stunned silence.

"I… wait, who…What happened?!" Izuku panicked, taking in the character before him. "You deflated! Where'd All Might go?! You! You're fake! An impostor!"

To the credit of the person in question, who's face seemed set in a permanent grimace, he did not seem terribly offended. "I assure you that I am All Mi-*Blurgh*" Suddenly, blood came gushing out of the person's mouth, causing Izuku to panic even further. Jukei broke out of his stupor, finally registering this man was bleeding from the mouth.

"Holy shit! That's impossible!" The healing bruiser yelled. "You dyin'?"

The gaunt man – apparently All Might - attempted to explain a best as he could, wiping blood off his chin. "You know how guys at the pool are always sucking in and flexing and trying to look buff? I'm like that."

"What kind of bullshit simile is that?!"

"THIS CAN'T BE REAL!"

No. He was dreaming!

"I can't believe it!" Izuku exclaimed. "All Might is a giant of a man who saves everyone. He defeats all obstacles and wins the day with a fearless smile!"

If it was possible at this point, All Might looked even grimmer at this. "There's plenty of fear behind that smile." He sat down against the railing behind him. "I'm trusting you to keep quiet about this. Don't go telling your friends about this or post it on the internet." Jukei and Izuku gasped when All Might lifted his shirt to reveal a large scar on the right side of his torso shaped like a spider web. The scars ran from above his navel to his left pectoral. Around where his false-ribs were was a huge gash. The skin was folded in on itself, and the entire thing seemed to be surrounded by permanently bruised skin. "Pretty gross, right? I got this in a big fight five years ago. My respiratory system was basically destroyed, and I lost my whole stomach. All the surgeries have pretty much worn me out. It can't be fixed. Right now I can only do hero work for about three hours a day. The rest of the time…" he gesture to himself, "this is what I look like."

"Five years ago…" Izuku pondered aloud, "So does that mean your fight with Toxic Chainsaw?"

"Wow, you know your stuff." Scrawny-Might noted. "But no, the punk may have landed some hits, but he couldn't bring _me_ down. No, most of the world has never heard of this fight, and I've done everything in my power to keep it that way." He suddenly looked rather disparaged. "I'm supposed to be the guy who's always smiling, right? I'm the symbol of peace. People everywhere have to think I'm never afraid. But really, I smile to hide my _own_ fear. It's just a brave face I put on when the pressure is high. This job isn't easy. Pro heroes always have to risk their lives. Some villains just can't be beaten without powers.

So no, I honestly don't think you can become a hero without a quirk."

When All Might looked up, he expected to see a disheartened or disappointed look. Instead, he looked up and saw the kid with his eyes closed, a frustrated look on his face, like he was just tanking a hurtful comment. When his eyes opened up, the symbol of peace saw a fire, a fire that looked like it could never go out.

"I see…" he said. "Well… I'm sorry but… I cannot simply accept your words and give up." This shocked both adults, who had expected the student to be hurt by this supposed truth. The quirkless green-haired middle schooler himself was screaming internally, after saying something he never thought he'd say to the man he looked up to most in the entire world. "I can understand. It may not seem logical from the viewpoint of somebody who has a quirk but…" he looked All Might directly in the eyes "I still have to try. I've worked too hard to give up now. If I take the entrance exam for U.A. high, the world's greatest hero school, and I don't pass, I will take your words to heart. But for now…" Surprising everyone present except for himself, Izuku bowed towards the man who had said no. "I'm sorry! I cannot rely on your answer! I cannot give up now! Not when I'm this close!"

All Might was caught completely off guard. He had expected the kid to be disheartened, maybe take a different path. This determination he displayed was…

The gaunt man smirked. He stood up from his place on the ground. "Well then," he said "I hope to see you again, shounen. What's your name?"

"Uhh… Izuku." The boy answered with uncertainty "Midoriya Izuku." He then gestured to Jukei. "And this is my mentor, Ikinuku Jukei; The Backlash Hero: Penance."

"Midoriya-shounen." All Might spoke. "I apologize for my disheartening reply. I just went to a dark place for a moment. Maybe you have a shot after all." He turned to a stunned Jukei, who was stunned at both his student's reaction, and the #1 hero's sudden change of heart. "You have quite the disciple, Penance. You must be proud."

Jukei broke out of his reverie long enough to smile at Izuku. "Extremely."

"Well then," All Might said, "I hope to see the two of you again someday soon. And young Midoriya." The boy in question stiffened slightly. "I wish you luck at U.A." With that, he moved towards the roof exit.

"*cough**cough*Alright," the scrawny form of the number one hero said on his way to the door, putting hand in his pocket, "Let's get you down to the station…" he paused when he realizing he could feel nothing in his pocket. This did not escape Izuku and Jukei, who suddenly had a bad feeling. Panicking, he searched his other pockets, but nothing came up. Suddenly, they all heard and explosion nearby, and looked from atop the building to see smoke rising up from the station. Suddenly, the three of them had a feeling that they knew where the villain was.

"…Not good."

* * *

 _ **Tatooine Station**_

 **(Music: My Hero Academia OST – Enemy Strike.)**

The three of them rushed straight for the smoke, the skinny All Might keeping up with them surprisingly well. When they got to the scene, it was chaos in a box.

The crowd in front of them did very little to obscure the disaster.

…

People were screaming. There was fire everywhere. Everyone was running or for their lives.

Death arms and two other heroes arrived on the scene to find the police standing back, unwilling to advance on the site before them. The villain, it seemed to be made entirely out of slime, was sitting in the middle of a mass of flames.

"It's taken someone hostage!" Death Arms said. He slammed his fist together and charged the villain. "How dare you pray on a child!" He screamed. He jumped up and swung his right fist into the monster, who simply growled as the enormous fist had no effect on his body. The punching hero struggled to regain his fist as the villain seem to be pulling it in. "What is this," he grunted, "some kind of goop?" he didn't get the chance to ponder it, as the villain swung a tentacle at him and sent him backwards into a wall. The other heroes attempted to intervene, just barely missing a tentacle that had come down to swat them.

"Stay back or I'll snap his neck!" The villain threatened. He then turned his attention to Bakugo, who was struggling within his slimy vice grip, and had managed to get his mouth out, letting out a scream.

"You picked the wrong guy to mess with!" He yelled. "I'm going to send you back to whatever sewer you crawled out of!" Small sparks appeared from his hands. "LET ME GOOOOOOOOOO!" He yelled. Without warning, he let out another massive explosion, seemingly unaware of the damage he was doing to his surroundings.

The villain, however, was undeterred, as his viscous body allowed him immunity to most brute force. This brat wasn't any trouble. "You've got so much power!" He appraised. "I really hit the jackpot. With a quirk like yours under my control, I can take All Might down for sure!"

"Wow," one of the civilians said, "is that some kind of special move?"

"This dude is a legit super villain!" Another one said.

Suddenly, a female civilian called out. "It's her! That new hero mount lady will stop him!"

Unfortunately, as the newly debuted heroin stomped towards the scene, she suddenly found herself obstructed. "My only weakness!" She said. "I need at least a two-lane road if I'm going to make my way through here!"

Nearby, Kamui Wood was rescuing Bakugo's cronies from out of the flames. "Fire and Wood don't mix!" He said. "I'll let someone else handle this guy.

"Don't look at me!" Backdraft said. "I've got my hands full here. Where are the firetrucks? Can you guys get to them?" He called out to death arms and his helpers.

"I can't get a grip on his body!" The muscular hero responded. "And that kids quirk is causing explosions left and right!"

"This is a shutout!" Slugger said from his left. "We've got to rally and knock him out of the park somehow!"

Bakugo, meanwhile, was struggling to get free on his own.

"It's no good!" Death Arms said. "None of us have the right quirks to stop a villain like this!"

"We'll do damage control until someone with the right power shows up!" Backdraft said. "There's still plenty of people to save!"

"Don't worry!" Kamui said. "With a racket like this, every hero in the city must be headed this way!"

 _Sorry kid._ Death Arms thought. _Just hold out a little bit longer._ He tightened his fists. "Damn!" He said out loud. "If I only had more power, I could blow this guy away!"

…

 _That villain from earlier…_ All Might thought. _I must have dropped him somewhere in the air. I was too busy worrying about my time limit._ _I can't believe I made such a rookie mistake! And after lecturing this kid on what it takes to be a hero…_ He gripped his wound. _I'm pathetic!_

Izuku's train of thought was not too different. _That's the same villain that attacked sensei and I!_

 _That can't be right! All Might captured him._ Then he thought back to when he and Jukei were holding on to All Might's leg. _He must have dropped him in the air._ Then it hit him. Horrified, he held a hand over his mouth. That meant… _This is all my fault!_

Jukei's mind was racing as he tried to figure it out. _It doesn't make sense. All Might had that guy in_ bottles _. How did he escape? The only time he could have dropped him was…_ Then he realized it. _…when he was in the air._ Was this because he was struggling to get them off? _Then… Izuku must think that this is his fault!_ He turned to his first disciple to see the horrified look on his face. He really needed to work on his people skills! What the hell was he supposed to say!

Suddenly, the three of them caught the banter among the civilians.

"Why aren't the heroes doing anything?"

"It looks like they met their match, plus the villain captured a kid. Things aren't looking so good."

 _He caught someone?_ Izuku thought, his guilt piling on. _How long have they been in there?_

 _How long can they survive?_ Jukei thought. _I could keep my breath for a few minutes at most._

"Wait, I'm confused, isn't that the same villain All Might was chasing earlier?"

"What, All Might? No way he lost. Where is he?"

"Can someone call him or something?"

"Seriously, why hasn't he shown up to help the heroes?!"

The man in question could not, and did not, do anything to rationalize. He had screwed up, and now he was going to be the reason someone died again.

Izuku's shame was not fading any less. If he had just listened to his teacher, if he had just left All Might alone…

 _I'm to blame._ He thought. _He wasted his energy on me._

… _I'm worthless…_

 _He can't power up yet. And none of the other heroes can stop this monster. They're not doing_ anything _to stop this monster. Aren't they supposed to be heroes?_

… _So pathetic…_

 _It's my fault. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry._

… _I'm a disgrace…_

 _Help will show up… and save the day… I'm sure…_

… _I'm not a real hero!…_

 _Someone… a real hero will come soon._

Suddenly, Izuku saw the victims face. It was… Bakugou Katsuki! It was him caught in the villain's body! A teenager, someone he had admired from afar his whole life could be moments from death, and it was all his fault. It didn't matter if he was Izuku's own self-decided nemesis. He didn't deserve that! Why weren't the heroes doing something?! They were doing nothing, wasn't it their jobs to risk their lives? He looked at Katsuki, who had a look in his eyes he had never seen before. So… pleading…

Izuku's journal hit the ground.

 **(Music: My Hero Academia OST – You Say Run. Start at 0:22 time stamp.)**

Izuku sprinted towards the villain faster than anyone else could by running on their own. Jukei and All Might gasped as he cleared the distance.

Jukei called out to him. "IZUKU!"

"NO, YOU IDIOT! STOP! YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!" Death arms yelled out.

The slime villain looked towards Izuku. "Not this brat again!"

Katsuki struggled to stay awake, long enough to see a head of green hair headed straight for him. "…Deku?..."

Meanwhile, Izuku's mind was racing. _What am I doing? Why am I running?! Why can't I stop!?_ He couldn't answer any of those questions, nor could he so much as slow down, so he tried to figure out his situation. _What do I do…_

"You're toast, kid!" The sludge man yelled, throwing a tentacle out to Izuku, who dodged with practiced agility.

 _Page 25_! Izuku remembered.

Pre-emptive Binding: Lacquered Chain Prison: Quickly stretch out arms (branches) in a feint to make opponent flinch, and use the opening to wrap around them.

With that, Izuku reached for the hole in his backpack and pulled out a silver dart with a yellow tuft, and threw it straight at the villain's eye.

"AAAUUGH!" the villain screamed in agony and released his grip on Katsuki's face, allowing him to breathe again, and greatly loosened his grip on the rest of him.

"KACCHAN!" Izuku reached inside the villain and grabbed Katsuki's arm with both hands. Pulling with all of his strength, he managed to get him out of the loose grip the bile pile had him in. Katsuki's legs were still sore from the previously tight grip the villain had on him, causing him to stumble and fall on his backside.

"What the hell?" He yelled at his declared nemesis. "What're you doing here?"

Izuku turned to look at him. "I don't know! My legs just started Moving!" He said as the villain managed to regain his bearings. He loomed over the two, ready to thrash away at them!

Actually, when Izuku looked back on that day, he would realize there were a lot of reasons.

 _Sorry, kid. It's not gonna happen._

 _This is all my fault!_

 _You think they'd let someone like you when they could have me?!_

 _He's the coolest in the universe!_

 _I'm going to U.A. to be the greatest hero in the world._

 _KACCHAN!_

 _I wanted to be a hero, but I can't do that if I don't have a quirk to save people with._

 _Yes! More than anything!_

 _He defeats all obstacles and wins the day with a fearless smile!_

But in that moment…

The sludge villain was hovering over them now.

"You looked… like you were asking for help!"

The boy's words hit a cord with All Might. What was he doing? He gripped the pole tightly, steam coming off of him as he prepared to transform. Jukei Decided it was time he got in there. He had to get them out of there!

 _I have to do something._ They both thought, as they readied themselves, _NO MATTER THE COST!_

But before they could do anything to intervene, the villain suddenly stopped thrashing and suddenly slumped over.

 **(End Music)**

…

…

…

Was the villain unconscious? What had…?

…The dart.

It was a dang tranquilizer dart. He didn't just distract the villain, he _took him out!_

Closer to him, now that the sludge was incapacitated, the blonde was pulled to his feet, and Izuku caught him on his chest, then stood him up straight, looking him over for injuries.

And as he was promptly shoved off the ashen blonde who yelled at him for helping him, before the media and the crowd came and swarmed the scene, All Might, saved from having to overexert himself, had suddenly come to a decision.

* * *

 _ **Sometime Much Later**_

Izuku was dead exhausted, as Jukei walked just behind the right of him. After he had ensured Kacchan was unharmed, the policed gathered up the pieces of the gelatinous criminal. The heroes chewed him out for his recklessness, while Kacchan was praised for his bravery. He didn't register it though, Izuku knew. He just sat there scowling at Izuku, who simply scowled right back, before doing a bit of chewing out of his own, and huffing off.

He honestly didn't give a fuck.

It wasn't like he had run straight into certain death. It wasn't like he had stunned a potentially major criminal with his quick thinking. It wasn't like he had rescued his classmate, taken down the villain, and come out completely unscathed all by _himself_. No, he was just being suicidal while they _so heroically_ sat on their thumbs and allowed destruction and the risk of death. Being a real hero was utterly thankless work. Not that he hadn't done anything wrong.

"I forgot to apologize to All Might." He thought aloud. "Hopefully I can send a written apology to him through his website."

"I wouldn't worry about it, Izuku," Jukei replied. "You cleaned up your mess quicker than you even _made_ it. No one was hurt. Even if the rest of those assholes were jealous you so easily pulled off what none of them _combined_ could do."

"You're right." Izuku supposed out loud. "Still, I can't help but have this lingering feeling. Maybe apologizing would ease my conscience."

His view of the World's Number One Hero hadn't degraded today. If anything, he admired the man even more for being able to keep the peace in his depowered… maybe even _dying_ state. His answer to Izuku's question weren't mean to crush his hopes, just to keep him from risking his life when he didn't have what most did. He doubted it sounded easy, or even feasible, even from the best hero the world could ever have to offer. All Might was truly one of a kind.

"DEKU!"

The two of them turned around to see a certain blonde bomber running up to them, stopping a few meters away and panting slightly.

"Kacchan?"

"Katsuki?"

The blonde spoke, ever spiteful. "Listen, I would never ask a weakling for you for help me. Don't think you can look down on me like that. GOT THAT?! HUH?! I was fine by myself! You're just a quirkless failure who'll barely cut it as rent-it SWAT! You didn't help me… You did nothing. Don't forget it. I don't owe you anything!" Katsuki then turned his attention to Jukei, surprising him with his acknowledgement. "And YOU! You're wasting your time with that nerd! He'll never amount to shit, and clearly neither will you!" Jukei simply allowed him to vent. "I hope you go into retirement in a woven basket!" And with that the delinquent turned on his heel and stomped off.

Jukei and Izuku sweat-dropped slightly. "Did he really go to the trouble of finding us?"

"He's right about one thing." Izuku spoke up. "He doesn't owe me anything. I had to save him, and I did." He turned to continue walking home. "I'm just gonna head home, Shishou. Thanks for walking this far with me. I'll see if I can't make up for today's lost time with some independent exercises."

Behind him, Jukei grinned, puffing his chest out in pride. _I taught him phenomenally._

Suddenly, All Might appeared out from the corner. He looked at Izuku, who jumped slightly. "There you are!"

"All Might?" Izuku questioned. He had no doubts he was able to evade reporters. Just, why was he following them? He felt a hand on his shoulder, and saw Jukei looking at All Might with suspicion.

"How long have you been following him? And for what purpose?"

The deflated Symbol of Peace held his hands up with peacemaking intent. "I started following you ever since I snapped out of shock at your apprentices amazing stunt. And I come here with an apology, a correction, and an offer."

Jukei backed off. He wasn't so sure why he had been so defensive. This was the hero. If he was going to harm you, you deserved it. The gaunt man turned his head to Izuku, who looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"Young man, if you hadn't told me about your life… if you hadn't run into that fight… I never would have gotten to meet you. And even when I admonished you, you still did what other heroes could not do, what _I_ could not do. Meanwhile, I was just a worthless bystander watching from the crowd. So thanks."

"I'm not completely faultless either, All Might!" Izuku responded. "I was the reason he was there to begin with. I got in the way of your hard work I wasted you energy, not to mention your time."

"I'm not done. You told me you were a normal kid without any powers; those were your exact words. So when I saw this quirkless boy save a life, it inspired me to act too. And before I even could, you actually handled the problem."

Izuku stared wide-eyed, processing his idol's words.

"There are stories about every hero, how they became great. Most have one thing in common: Their bodies moved before they had a chance to think, almost on their own."

Tears began to form in his eyes. For some reason, he remembered his mother's words in that moment.

" _I'm sorry, Izuku. I wish things were different."_

Izuku's hands clutched his chest, as he lowered himself.

"And today, that's exactly what happened to you."

She'd never told him what he wanted, needed to her to say back then… and Jukei-sensei had never said it straight to him… the words he needed to hear.

"Young man, _you can be a hero_."

Izuku couldn't take it anymore. He allowed himself to drop to his knees as he sobbed. All the reminders that he was behind everyone else, all the comings-up short next to the few friend he had, all the times he'd needed their help to truly fend of Bakugo… they were an endless valley of hellish rises and falls.

And if they were, each and every one of them, responsible for leading him to this moment, he wouldn't have changed a thing.

Jukei, for his part, was awestruck; as the world's biggest hero had straight-up told him what he had an epiphany as being what _he_ had never told him straight up. It was always implying it or, 'You'll get there working this hard' or 'You're well on your way.' Suddenly, for all that he had taught his freckled disciple, he felt like he had _failed_ him as a teacher.

 _No._ he thought. _I made him strong in body and mind. I taught him how to fight, and the way he was best conditioned to do it. He kept his grades top-notch because I told him to, and he had confidence enough to not let All Might's first answer bring him down. I did okay._

Suddenly, All Might put his hands out like he was making a grand declaration. "I deem you worthy of my power. My quirk is yours to inherit.

Izuku quickly stopped crying and stood up, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. He then fully paid attention to what his hero had said. "Huh?!"

"Wait, what?" For not the first time that day, Jukei was gob smacked. "What do you mean inherit your quirk?"

"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAAAA!" All Might suddenly broke out into laughter. "Look at your faces!*Haaaaah* Don't worry, kid. I'm not forcing anything on you." Suddenly, the skinny symbol of peace seemed to become serious and composed as he addressed them both. "Listen well, young man." All Might said, pointing to the sky. "It's your choice." He then pointed to Izuku, blood gushing freely from his mouth. "DO YOU WANNA ACCEPT MY AWESOME POWER OR NOT? *BLERG*"

Izuku's confusion had not dropped in the slightest. "What are you talking about?" He asked. "What is this?"

The gaunt Number 1 hero rubbed the blood away from his mouth. "There are a couple things you should know about my abilities. Journalists always guess my quirk as super-strength or some kind of invulnerability. When people ask in interviews I always dodge the question with a joke. And it's because the world needs to believe that their symbol of peace is just a natural born hero like any other ... but I'm not. There's nothing natural about my ability."

"Huh?" The most intelligent of Ikinuku Jukei, ladies and gentlemen.

The skinny man spread his arms out and looked towards the sky. "I wasn't born with this power. It was passed on to me as though it was a sacred torch!"

"Someone gave you your quirk?" Izuku looked on in awe. "No way!"

"Yes way," The man confirmed, "and you're next. I can give you my powers."

"Hold on," Izuku replies, "This is a lot to process. It's true there's a lot of debate as to what your quirk actually is. Nobody has ever figured it out. It's one of the world's greatest mysteries! People are constantly talking about it online. But the idea of passing on a quirk and inheriting it just doesn't make any sense to me, I've never heard anything like it, a power is supposed to be unique to each individual and since the first superpowers no one has been able to simply give someone their power like a present! If this is true, it could change everything we know about quirks to begin with..." and he kept on muttering and muttering as Jukei and All Might looked on awkwardly.

"Uh, does he usually do this?" He turned his attention to Jukei.

"It's one of his more… unique qualities." the sensei replied. "He gets it from his father. They have benefits if you actually listen."

They both turned their attention to Izuku. "Uh, Sounds like you're overthinking this whole inheriting thing." All Might tried to grab his attention. "STOP NERDING OUT!" Izuku snapped out of his thoughts. "You'll just have to adjust your reality and except this new truth. I can transfer my quirk to someone else. And that's just one facet of my secret abilities. The true name of my power is One for All."

Izuku processed the name. "One … for … All."

"Yes..." All Might explained. " One person refines the power then hands it off to another person, and that person refines it again, and it continues to grow as it's passed along. It's this cultivating power that I wielded to save those who are in need of a hero; the truth behind my strength."

The process made sense to Izuku, it even narrowed down his list of questions to, like, _23_.

"I have been on a long hunt for a worthy successor and then I watched you jump into action as 'heroes' stood Idly by. You may be a quirkless fan boy, but you acted like a hero as you tried to save that kid; _saved_ that kid. So I ask you: do you accept this power?

Izuku's fist tightened. _He's encouraged me so genuinely. He even told me the secret behind his powers. And he stated before that the reasons he thought me worthy. How could I possibly turn him down?_ He straightened his back with a determined look on his face. "I accept your power, All Might! I will inherit One for All!"

"No reluctance, no hesitation." all Might smirked. "That's exactly how I figured you'd respond." He then turned his attention to Jukei. "And what say you? He's your student. What do you have to say on this?"

Jukei had been musing through this entire conversation. If he was being honest, he saw no downside to this. About 10 months from now his student may very well stop needing him anyway. He would end up learning from the top hero course in the world, full of _official_ teachers. Plus, he'd be able to take credit for teaching the worlds very next All Might! He neither hesitated nor stuttered. "I'm all for it!" He said. "Let's get it on!"

"OK then," All Might smirked. "The two of you meet me at Dagobah Municipal Beach tomorrow at 5 A.M. sharp. There, we will begin young Midoriya's training to properly inherit one for all."

Jukei slung an arm around Izuku's shoulder. "We'll be there!" He declared.

"Oh, and if I'm going to be training your student, you should both know me." All Might decided. "You can address me, as Garrick Lamont."

 **Okay, I get it. Izuku is stronger. But part of his essential character is that he is an extremely sensitive individual. Fucking review if you don't like that he's man enough to cry. I'll jot down names.**

 **All Might**

 **Age: Unkown**

 **Gender: Male**

 **Height: 220 cm / 7' ½"**

 **Weight: 255 kgs /560 lbs.**

 **Eyes: Blue**

 **Hair: Blonde**

 **Nationality: American**

 **Date of Birth: June 10** **th**

 **Place of Birth: Detroit, Michigan (Oh yes I did)**

 **Handedness: Right**

 **Blood Type: A**

 **Likes: Movies**

 **Dislikes: Failure**

 **Character Theme: Coldplay – Viva La Vida**

 **Quirk: (Formerly) None (Currently) One for All – Containing the combined physical strength of collected over 8 lifetimes, All Might can increase his strength, speed, durability, and even agility to, as of yet, unmet and unsurpassed levels.**

 **Costume: Skin-tight blue body suit, red symbol, somewhat resembles a "Y", white diamond at center, white lines connected to it that trace from chest to back shoulders. Lines trimmed with aforementioned red symbol. Symbol has wings on the sides that run from atop torso before ending around back. Similar red and white design absent of the white diamond over back. Large white patches with red trims cover each side of hips before ending at thighs. Gold belt has silver buckle with red eyes. Forearm sleeves colored in gold that each had white lines covered in blue accents over his wrists. Spiked fins on the sides of arms and feet covered in shin-length gold boots trimmed with white and red accents.**

 **Fighting Style: Close Combat**

 _ **Skills:**_

 **Overwhelming Strength: A single punch from All Might could not only defeat a villain but completely change the weather shortly afterward. It also has the power to completely destroy several city blocks from the wind pressure it creates. Despite becoming severely weakened since first meeting Izuku, All Might's pure, overwhelming strength is comparable to that of a nuclear device.**

 **Immense Speed: In conjunction with his immense level of physical strength, All Might possesses blinding speed.**

 **Near Invulnerability: All Might has extreme durability, almost to the point of being completely invulnerable to attacks.**

 **Immense Stamina: in his prime years, it was noticed that All Might has never been shown to be tire even when fighting against multiple villains. Even when unleashing a punch that is far more powerful enough to destroys several cities, All Might has showed no signs of fatigue.**

 **Indomitable Spirit: All Might's will is clear in almost all of his actions as a Hero. He is known for saving people with a smile and his catchphrase "I am here", two facets of him being the Symbol of Peace.**

 _ **SpecialMoves:**_

 **Detroit Smash: Similar to Texas Smash, All Might uses a downward punch so powerful it creates a powerful updraft that changes the weather.**

 **Texas Smash: All Might uses a powerful straight punch that creates a mass amount of wind pressure. So much so, that All Might can level half a city with a single punch.**

 **Detroit Smash: Similar to Texas Smash, All Might uses a downward punch so powerful it creates a powerful updraft that changes the weather. He first used this to save Izuku and Katsuki from the Sludge Villain.[6]**

 **Missouri Smash : All Might uses a focused straight chop to strike his opponent in one quick motion.**

 **California Smash : All Might attacks with a frontal somersault leading into a downward punch.**

 **Carolina Smash: All Might attacks with a double hand chop that crosses the opponent's body.**

 **New Hampshire Smash: All Might blasts himself towards his enemy and smashes his body into the enemy, crushing them with his great weight.**

 **Oklahoma Smash: All Might whirls around while enemies have latched onto him, spinning with enough force that when they are released they are easily thrown through concrete.**

 **United States of Smash: Using all his power, All Might delivers a massive punch, then slams his opponent into the ground with his fist. It is powerful enough to send shockwaves reverberating the surrounding area, and can incapacitate enemies of extraordinary caliber.**

 **Stats**

 **Power - 6/5; S**

 **Speed - 6/5; S**

 **Technique - 6/5; S**

 **Intelligence - 6/5; S**

 **Cooperativeness - 6/5; S**


	4. Three Months of Hell, pt 1

**Hey everyone. I'm sorry if this chapter has a few errors. I gave it a full evaluation myself, and my beta-reader is suffering a serious injury. I will post this again once he's recovered, or if you think this chapter isn't complete crap.**

 **I also want to point out that this chapter was supposed to be longer, but then I became worried that all of my chapters were becoming significantly longer and longer. I didn't want them to end up becoming so long that they were too hard for some to finish, so I decided to divide this chapter into two parts. I hope this doesn't ruin the experience for you.**

 **On the other hand, reviews!**

 **Bright Inferno:** **I am glad you brought that up. I can assure you this All Might will be an infinitely more capable teacher.**

 **Bens6757:** **Well… you can't please everybody. Besides, at the end of the day, I wrote this for** _ **me**_ **. Plus, I put up a pole that basically said "Do you want these characters to keep their names even though they're not Japanese anymore, or nah?" And "nah" pretty much won by a 3 to 1 margin.** _ **I**_ **think they're gonna like it.**

 **Wildebranch:** **I agree. How the fuck was Bakugo ever in the top ten in popularity polls, much less top three?**

 **And that is an accurate criticism of canon. He may even be able to skip straight to the best part of his understanding his inherited powers. Wink.**

 **Classy J0K3R:** **That is correct.**

 **Xerzo LotCN:** **I can assure you, I am not replacing them with OCs. The only thing I'm changing is their names and the countries they come from.**

 **SonicMax:** **You can be certain he'll tell them the truth.**

 **Jack:** **Because, That's a Japanese name, and I put up a poll over whether readers wanted new nationalities** _ **and**_ **names to match them** _ **or**_ **just new nationalities, and the option for** _ **both**_ **won out. And I decided All Might would be American to match his canon attitude.**

 **Plasma Dragon 312:** **Well! I am impressed! I didn't think anyone would try to guess or request, but that's exactly the level he'll be at when the entrance exam starts! It's too bad this web site doesn't hand out rewards, because you'd be getting a gold medal! You are right about him having several months to himself.**

 **Blaze1992:** **Let's be real here, how many people actually show the scene of younger Bakugo getting chewed out? Not a lot. And certainly not the big ones. And I am well aware I skipped out on the first date. You know who else cut out the possible first date scene? Streggae, in** **Dark Light** **. Let's just say I got inspired to do it the way he did. I didn't feel like wasting any more time on before-the-series crap. The rest of the romance will be in-series. And I will most certainly be enlightening some on their relationship in the past six months in this chapter.**

 **As for your question, I was first inspired with this idea by a wonderfully imaginative writer labelling himself Thanos Cradik. I will explain how it actually works here in this chapter. But I'm glad you asked. It reminded me why I dedicated this story to Mr. Cradik in the first place, albeit his take on what it would be like was much more humorous than factual, but that made it no less entertaining. I mean, it hasn't updated in a while, and it's still in the top 20, both in followers and favorites! People just love it that much!**

 **Sonicdude8:** **Hopefully…**

 **I'm looking at other fanfics, and I'm suddenly compelled to do this. Don't Judge me:**

 **I don't own My Hero Academia. Disclaimer for all franchises is on my profile page.**

 **Yagi Toshinori - Garrick Lamont (American)**

* * *

"It's super-nice to meet you." – normal speech

" _Where are you looking?!"_ – speaking with emphasis/ speaking in a flashback

 _Is he worried?_ – thinking/ flashback dialogue

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" - screaming

" _WE'RE A'LL GONNA DIE"_ – Screaming with emphasis

" **Detroit Smash"** – special move

" **Hope has arrived! Because I am here!"** \- Buff All Might speaking

{READY? START} – Speaker phone speech (Present Mic, in other words)

Entry 83 - Text being Displayed

* * *

Having made it to the Midoriya household, Izuku started up the stairs slowly, and gathering time enough to think about his day. His dad was out on a business trip since last week, so he would only be returning home to his mother today.

Izuku marched up the stairs to his apartment even _more_ exhausted. He had decided to forget independent training. Getting into an argument with Kacchan in front of the teacher…

Getting attacked by a Villain…

Meeting All Might…

Saving Kacchan from the same villain that could have killed him…

Getting chewed out by pros…

Being deemed worthy of All Might's power…

 _ **ALL MIGHT'S POWER**_

Yes, it was safe to say Izuku had had more than enough physical and mental stress for one day. Forget makeup exercise.

Reaching the top of the stairwell, Izuku opened the door…

"Tadaima!"

And was hit by his mother's embrace as though it were a missile.

"IZUKU!" She cried. "I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY! WHEN I SAW YOU ON TV, I WAS SO WORRIED!" She had him in an unusually powerful grip, and he could only struggle for air as she held him closely.

"*Gurk* Okaa…san… can't breathe…" he managed to get out. But he was not unaware how much his mother needed the contact, so the instant she pulled away, he instantly pulled her into an embrace that was more on his terms.

"Ohh…*sniff* Izuku…"

"Daijobu, Okaa-san." Izuku crooned, stroking his mother's back. "I'm here. Everything's okay. I'm okay. You're baby isn't in any harm."

Inko giggled through her tears at this. He was trying _really_ hard, she decided, if he was even acknowledging that she still called him that. It had been 10 years, since she had allowed the strange boy known as Jukei to teach him what he could. In all that time, he had done his absolute best to ensure that no harm came to her son. In all that time, she was pleased to find he had kept that promise. More than that, she could tell it was doing Izuku good, as _he_ had hoped. It had seemed like things were looking up for their family. After finding out her son was being attacked by Katsuki, she felt horrible for not knowing anything about it, even if it was only the first time it had happened.

They had decided that with the "friendship" between the two of them broken, that neighborhood was no longer best for them. So they moved, and managed to find an accommodating home that wasn't terribly different from their old one. When she talked to Izuku later on, she discovered he would not have told her or Hisashi if "Ikinuki-sensei" hadn't brought it to their attention, because he didn't want "Kacchan" to get in trouble.

She really couldn't be upset with him.

He was a sweet boy, always had been. It was almost as if he had been born knowing how to be kind. And oh, how he had been born! He was a shy boy at first, so skittish around other boys who seemed so eager to prove they were already men, and never seen with a girl his age. But he was an absolute angel. He was ready to help others without seemingly even the most instinctual thoughts for his own safety. He was always offering to see if he could help around the house, even if he wasn't still built for it. That, in and of itself, made doing things easier for his parents, that there son was so eager to contribute. Not that he was incapable for someone his age in the _least_. He was able to walk on his own, he could talk in full sentences, and he could even run across more rigid surfaces without tripping.

He was willing to follow those boys wherever they went, but Katsuki most of all. It seemed like those two might as well have been joined at the hip. Her son admired Katsuki's bravery so much because it was something he lacked. And Katsuki would never admit it, but he loved Izuku's praise because he was the most genuine. But they were so different that it was hard for Inko to not worry that something would start in between them.

But when the fierce child's quirk manifested, things changed. Katsuki became louder, prouder, more boastful… and more violent. It was worse than any of them could have considered, including herself.

When Izuku talked about getting his quirk, and how much he wanted to be a hero, they became increasingly nervous. It was a low chance, they considered, that their son would actually get a quirk, since theirs were so low tier, and they had a history of quirkless family member, but he disagreed. They were low power, he argued, but at their core, they were pyro kinetic and telekinetic. The possibilities and potencies were endless! If anyone in his class had the highest chance to get a useful quirk, it would be him. They had never been so proud. Their baby boy was so smart! But it was not to be, as it turned out. When he found out he would never get a power, it broke his heart. Inko still regretted what she had said. She might have very well broken him. Her! His own mother, giving up on her only child!

When the strange young man called Jukei showed up promising to help, she was reluctant, she would admit, but he had kept his promise, and taught her son. She wasn't really sure it would work, but at least her son had someone to keep his spirits up. But it worked out. Her son became stronger in body and mind, especially mind. And two years later, her son was making friends again! And she was certain Izuku was staying out of trouble, apart from whatever… likely very dangerous training he was doing. He had learned how to defend himself, how to properly defend others, and his grades couldn't have been better!

While most boys his age would ask for space, or stay in their own rooms until called, he wasn't afraid to study in the company of his parents, he didn't mind studying in the living room, unless he was bringing his friends for a study group. He would love helping her set the living room straight, or making tea for guests, or taking care of things when one of them was sick. And he wasn't afraid to hug them, or kiss them, or stay close to them in public. He was their son, their angel, their caring, golden-hearted Izuku. And she couldn't ask for a better son, quirk or no quirk.

And he had a girlfriend.

Privately, Inko knew her son's positive spirit would win over many a girl. Hisashi had said so, and she agreed. But she thought he'd want to keep all of his companions to being just friends. She was not certain if he would have the time to manage a romantic partner. Showed what she knew; he made time. And young Tsuyu was a wonderful girl. She may not have expressed herself in the same manner as anyone else, but she was attentive, and caring, and honest, and absolutely _adorable_! With those big eyes and that friendly little croak and that pleasant voice and, she was just so _perfect_ for him! When she had gotten word straight from the two of them? Well, to give an idea, she had just now crushed her son to death because she had been terrified for him; that was her _second_ tightest hug. She couldn't help but notice young Ashido had seemed a little forlorn.

Oh well, she supposed. Always next time.

Things just seemed to be going so _right_!

And yet, after over ten years of safeguarded learning, he was suddenly diving headfirst straight into danger, and he had done nothing to stop him. Was fate just toying with her? Did it find it fun to see how many scares her heart could take? She was just so frustrated!

"Mom?" He spoke up, breaking her out of her thoughts. She leaned back to look at him. He winced. Her eyes had red puffy rings around them. "I'm… I'm sorry you had to see me running out there like that. I won't say that I'd hoped you weren't watching or that I was expecting you to be less worried. And I won't ignore the past by saying I'm fine right now. I just… I couldn't stop myself. I… I moved without thinking. And before you get mad at Jukei-sensei, he did try to stop me, but I was just too quick for him. He didn't realize what I was doing. By the time _I_ realized what I was doing, I…I couldn't even turn back. My body wouldn't cooperate. I know that's probably not what you wanted to hear, but… I thought you should at least know _why_ I did what I did."

For several moments, there was only silence between them, the embrace unbroken. After a moment, the mother pulled the son into another loving embrace, much less crushing than the last. "Oh … Izuku … baby, I ... I'm so proud of you. I just want you to be safe and happy. I know… I know the path you've chosen is going to make it… hard to make that second one possible, but… I was so scared that would be the last time I ever saw you. A-and I'll try to move past it. But Izuku, please promise me that if you're going to take risks like that… you'll be thinking of… us, and you'll plan on coming back." When she said us, she didn't just think about herself. She thought about Hisashi, his friends, and his girlfriend… every single person she could muster up who cared about him. And they both knew it.

As an answer, he pulled away just enough to look at her face, and brought one of his hands up to gently brush away her tears. Once he was done, he looked her dead in the eye, and did not flinch.

"Mom, I promise that whenever I put myself in danger, I will think of all of you whenever I go into danger. And I _will_ come out safely."

That was the first time he had ever lied to his mother. Thank All Might he had polished his silver tongue with practice from Jukei. He could never just assume he would come out unscathed! That just wasn't a realistic expectation.

After that, they embraced one more time. This one initiated by Izuku. They spent a long time sitting there, content, before Izuku broke the silence. "Hey, Mom?" She looked at him attentively. Not just because she wanted to be ready to receive what he had to say, but because she wanted to fully process it. "Jukei-sensei and I… we're going to be doing some new training by the beach for the foreseeable future. If you ever want to find us, we'll be at Tagoba, okay?" Izuku wanted to tell her about All Might, about the offer of a lifetime he had been made… but that could wait a little longer. She'd had enough stress for one day. He'd tell her when she was much more calm. Or when she wanted to know more about it. Hopefully the former, when he wasn't being forced to. Hopefully Dad would be back soon enough that Izuku could tell him without feeling like he was just stalling. Telling him over the phone just wouldn't do.

Inko drew a few breaths. She needed them. "Okay, sweetie." She said softly. "Thank you for telling me."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

* * *

"Okay," Mina looked at the rest of the group as they headed up the steps to the Midoriya apartment, "We're just going to go in and check on him. We'll say hi, spend some time with him to see how he's doing, and we'll be out once he checks out. No funny business, no freaking out."

"Said the one among us who freaks out the most."

"Shut up, Fumi!"

"This seems like a bad idea. I mean, shouldn't we give him some space? Kero." Tsuyu said.

"No way!" The horned girl said. "He needs company! How do you think he'd feel if he finds out that we'd known he was attacked by a villain and we didn't even send so much as a one word 'okay?' text?"

Eijiro answered immediately, as they got to the top of the steps. "He'd feel hung out to dry."

"That's right, so we're gonna show him we care, in the aftermath of his trauma!"

Tsuyu spoke up. "Speaking of messaging, maybe we could have just called him?"

"…Shut up, Tsu!"

"Seriously though," Eijiro said "We're just gonna make absolutely sure he's okay before we go?"

"Yes! We don't wanna take up too much of his time! He could be exhausted after that nightmare he's been through!" Not wasting any more time, Mina rang the doorbell.

"Wow. You've really grown up if you're actually considering how worn out someone is."

"Of course I'm considering it! Anyway, we're just gonna see if he's okay, and we're gonna be strong for him."

Suddenly, the door opened, and Izuku Midoriya was on the other side.

"Hello?"

And then Mina pounced on him.

"IZU!"

By the time Izuku had recovered from the impact, he found himself wrapped tightly in Mina's arms in a tight hug, the second of its caliber that day.

"I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY! WHEN I SAW THE VILLAIN ATTACK YOU ON THE NEWS I WAS SO WORRIED!"

He felt his head going light.

"Woah, Mina! I think you're huggin' him a little too tight!"

"SHUT UP, EIJI!"

Tsuyu looked on a little enviously. Even after Izuku had become her boyfriend, the pink nuisance became no less open with him. She really needed to learn her boundaries!

Izuku, on the other hand, was still desperately trying to get air back in his lungs, and so sacrificed what little he had left for a desperate two-word message:

"Can't… breathe…"

Fumikage decided to step in. "Okay, that's enough." He brought out Dark Shadow, who was smaller than normal to conserve energy, and used him to try and gently pry Mina off of his choking green-haired companion. However, since he did not want to actually break the clearly needed embrace, he simply loosened her grip to the point that Izuku was _not_ choking.

Having been spared from being strangled to death, Izuku took several deep breaths to ensure he could think straight with what he was provided. He then turned his attention to the alien girl nuzzling into his chest. He tried getting her attention. "Uh, hi, Micchan…"

"You're and idiot."

He was utterly silenced by how devastated she sounded. He almost never saw Mina like this. She was so carefree, as if nothing in the world could bring her down. It _killed_ him when she was actually upset.

It hurt even more that he was the one responsible for it.

So he let her be. He had done this. If keeping this embrace was what it took to make her feel better, then they would sit there for as long as it took. With those thoughts in mind, he slowly wrapped his hands around her, and pulled her into gentle embrace.

"Ahem."

And then Izuku looked around and remembered that the two of them were lying down on his family's doorstep, and were surrounded by company. Fumikage was pinching his eyebrow, Eijiro looked like he wanted to leave the two of them alone, his mother was holding back a giggle, and Tsuyu…

Was glaring at them _murderously_!

A normal glare of bloody murder was disturbing enough, given the right person and the right motives. On Tsuyu – calm, mature, girlfriend-of-his Tsuyu – it was full-on _terrifying_. Izuku was suddenly hoping Mina would cheer up faster so the teal-haired girl didn't _actually_ end them.

"So, uh, M-Micchan… are you f-f-feeling better?" He tried to keep his voice steady, but with his girlfriend glaring daggers at them, it was really hard. Fortunately, Mina either got the silent message, or she actually was, because after a few seconds, she nodded slightly, and raised her head up, revealing her eyes were ringed by lilac and wetness. He winced. She sat up, and stepped back from him, before he got up too. A slightly awkward silence took place before Inko spoke up.

"So… what… brings you here, today?"

Eijiro spoke up. "We heard about the sludge villain on the news, Mrs. Midoriya. We just wanted to make sure Izuku was still okay after that whole thing."

"We apologize for intruding," Fumikage spoke, "but we didn't want him to think we were abandoning him when he found out we had known."

Inko teared up, bringing her hands to her mouth. "Oh… my son has such wonderful friends." Everyone who was not given the last name Midoriya sweat-dropped at the typical sight of the Patriarch of the household getting overly sentimental.

"Hey, Mom, can I speak with my friends in private?" The son asked. "I'll try not to take too long. I just… want to talk to them about the… training change."

"*sniff* Okay, sweetie. You can talk with them as long as you need to."

"Thanks, Mom. It won't be long."

And with that, the motley crew of aspiring heroes made their way to Izuku's bedroom.

No one bothered with the fact that Tsuyu was latching onto Izuku's arm a little too tightly on the short trip there.

Once inside the room, everyone sat down. Izuku and Tsuyu sat on the bed, and Eijiro and Mina sat on the floor. Once Izuku was certain everyone was seated and ready, Izuku began.

"Okay, guys. I know this is sudden, but I've had… a change in regimen. Jukei-sensei and I will be working with… a new trainer. I'll be doing mostly strength training for a while, not sure how long for." He wasn't even lying to them, just being very cryptic about this new trainer. He suspected it was strength training of some form. All Might's quirk basically endowed him with super-strength, of that he was certain. Hearing that it had once belonged to several other people who "refined" it with each use made it sound like they worked to attain full control of it as it became stronger with each new wielder. He wasn't sure exactly what it took to be ready for the power, but he could suspect that had to do with the wielder being fit enough themselves. And since he really didn't know what this training would entail, he really couldn't deduce how long it would take him, just that it would have to be before the day of the U.A. entrance exam in ten months. "As such, I won't be able to show up for any of the standard training. In all likelihood, Sensei will probably continue you guys' training and allow this new teacher to see to my training on his own. I think he trusts him enough for that."

"So who is this new trainer?" Tsuyu was the one to ask first.

"Yeah," Eijiro pitched in, "how are you sure you can trust this guy?"

"I…" Izuku hoped he wasn't violating the trust they had so carefully built up, over the course of eight years. It's just… if it turned out Izuku did not pass All Might's little test, he didn't want to leave his identity to a group who he had no significant connections with. "I can't tell you right now." Don't hesitate. "We don't know if this training is going to work out, and if it doesn't… he prefers to keep a low profile. He prefers the only people who need to know he exists are people he's teaching." There, that's it, just one more loose end. "And the reason this person hasn't agreed to teach any of you is because we… forgot to tell him about you." That pause was deliberate. "That, and the reason is the same as why he wanted to teach me specifically, because he happened to see my little stunt with the sludge villain," the flinches across the room did not escape his gaze, "and he didn't want me to squander my… latent hero potential. His words, not mine."

When he looked around the room, he saw they were a little hesitant to accept his answer, but he hoped they would. He didn't technically lie too much, right? Right! All Might had told him his powers were explicitly a secret, and if he didn't pass this test, regardless of how confident he was, he didn't want to spread the information unnecessarily; especially since it wasn't really his secret to tell, just yet. Fortunately, they seemed to buy it.

"Well, that makes sense." Eijiro replied, grinning. "I guess if Sensei can trust this guy, so can we."

"*Sigh* Okay, Izuku." Mina decided. "I'll trust you on this one."

"I'll accept this explanation." That was about as much as he could expect from Fucchan.

Nervously, he turned to Tsuyu, who was looking at him with that adorable blank stare of hers, thought right now it was making him sweat bullets. Tsuyu had known him for years, and was supernaturally perceptive anyway. Out of everyone, she probably saw right through the holes in his story, from the instant it left his mouth. His real hope was that she would accept the silent plea to her specifically: _I want to tell you, but it's not my call. Not yet._

"If you really think it's a good idea, Izuku-chan, I'll allow it." He let out a breath he didn't even realized he had been holding. "But," he stiffened, "I expect to hear the whole story when this training is done."

 _When_ , not _if_. She believed he would get through it, no matter what it was. That… made him feel so much better about keeping his friends in the dark. Even if it was for what he hoped would be a very short time.

"Anyway," Eijiro spoke, the hardener getting off the floor along with Mina, readying to leave. "It's good to see your okay, man. I don't know if I'm cut out for the kind of training this mystery man's got if a stunt like _that's_ what it takes to get his attention."

"Ditto, there."

"Agreed. A vicious trial."

"Kero."

And with that, they made their way towards the door, Izuku seeing them out. But before Tsuyu could leave, Izuku grabbed her hand and pulled her close, blushing. He took her hand in his and looked her dead in the eye.

"Everything." He whispered. "I promise." He then gave her a kiss on her cheek.

"…Are you just trying to get me less upset with you?" She asked.

"Probably." He answered. "I don't even know myself. I just wanted to."

"…" She smiled at him. "I hate that it's working."

"I also thought you might be mad at me for letting Mina cling to me earlier."

The short girl snorted at that. "Izuku, I'm your girlfriend, not your superior officer. I know she was really broken up about it. I just wish she would understand her boundaries a little better."

Izuku returned her snort. Good luck with that. "Well, I'll see you, Tsucchan." He patted her on the head. She let out small "keros,"indicating her enjoyment of it. Something he had been permitted to do when they started going out was to pet her. As it turned out, she loved it, but as she got older, it seemed more intimate, more embarrassing to let just anybody do. So, she firmly decided only a boy she liked, a boy she had _told_ she liked them, would get that privilege.

"See you, Izuku." And with that, she went to catch up to the others.

That night, Izuku was still struggling to fall asleep. He couldn't stop thinking about what tomorrow had in store for him, nor could he stop thinking about the responsibility that he had accepted. This was the power of the world's greatest hero! The hero who stood for everything he wanted to be! Was going to be, if he could pull through. Was this really happening?

…Well, if worrying about that was what kept him up, he could be certain it was real. He remembered having come so close to death. His friends had shown up to check on him, so it had definitely been real from _that_ point on. All he really needed to worry about was being _physically_ ready.

It was these thoughts that he finished with before he found himself dosing off.

 _ **Approximately Eight Months before U.A.s Entrance Exam,**_

 _ **Tagoba Municipal Beach**_

Garrick drove towards the increasingly clean sea side in his pickup truck. He had begun training Izuku's already considerable physical strength to better handle his power… which would soon become young Midoriya's power as well. His job would be to clean up the designated section of the beach on his own (he had _sworn_ knowing nothing about the pickup truck underneath one of the larger piles. Thank goodness it was the only one.). Since he was so athletic, he decided to make it more challenging by telling Young Midoriya to carry it from the beach _all the way_ to the dump _on his own_. He had made astounding progress, maybe he would even make it with time sufficient to learn how to properly use his new quirk. These were his thoughts as he parked near the seaside entrance, and was promptly struck with the sight of his successor's "progress."

"RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He saw the successor in question standing atop a huge pile of waste, dressed in nothing but his red sneakers, his boxers, and a whole shower of sweat, and letting out an effective scream of triumph, which was followed by another. "RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHH!"

"Quite the site, isn't it?" Garrick turned sharply to see Jukei in his hero costume, a skin tight black bodysuit with for parallel lines running down the torso and matching lines down each limb, and a luchador-style face mask. He had bracers on his arms and legs with spikes on the underside that could be driven into his skin with the handles in the fingers of his gloves. He walked up next to the skinny man and looked on as his successor let out his resounding yells. "I'm glad I trained him so hard. This may just be his greatest in-training achievement yet."

Garrick barely registered the other pro's words as he moved closer in to the beach to inspect his disciple's handiwork. "Hey, hey, hey! Holy crap kid! You cleared out the entire area like I told you too in just two months! Not only that, you cleaned up outside where I told you! And with a whopping 8 months to spare! You've blown my expectations out of the water! Oh my… oh my… **GOODNESS!" (A/N: God, I love it when he does that :D)**

Izuku, exhausted from the hellish non-stop exercise, began to wobble slightly, before falling off his perch altogether. Before he could hit the ground, All Might caught him. **"Excellent work, young Midoriya!"**

"Heh, *Pant* look, All Might." A fatigued Izuku looked up at his idol, and smiled. "I cleaned up *Pant* the beach, just like you told *Pant* me too. I think I'm ready now." Since Izuku had been so focused on his strength training, His masters had worked together to reschedule his training for everything else in such a way that he would not backpedal on anything else. Fortunately, eating and sleeping had not been altered… to their knowledge. Izuku had actually stayed up on nights because he still had stamina left over, since that was focused on that so much more beforehand. He knew he'd need as much time as possible to train actually using One for All's power. And it had payed off phenomenally.

" **Yeah, you did good kid."** All Might said, pacing a large hand on his shoulder, causing him to tremble. He pointed to the large pile of trash that had yet to be taken to the dump. **"Look at how far you've come! At this rate, you may have full power under your belt before you graduate!"**

"And on top of that," The first mentor pointed out, walking up to the two of them, "The exercise has done you a damn lotta good."

Indeed it had. Izuku was now 5' 7", and his muscles were pretty fully developed. His biceps looked like they could have been hiding bronze under his skin. His 8-pack abs could have been mistaken for well-polished rocks. And in spite of his narrow hips, you could not be fooled from the power he held in his legs. His thighs were stuffed thick with muscle, and he had shapely calves to compliment them nicely. His jawline wasn't outrageously strong, and he still had more than just a little fat on his cheeks, but, unbeknownst to him, it was actually better that way. **(1)**

"Well then," Jukei nudged All Might's gut, "let's not keep him waiting. Let the transfer begin."

" **Quite right."** All Might Immediately plucked a hair from off of his head. **"You've worked hard, Young Midoriya. Now let the fruits of your labor take bloom."**

With anticipation for the mantle that he would bear, Izuku held out his quirkless hands, and grabbed the future…

" **Eat this!"**

…

…

…

"Huh?"

" **In order to inherit One for All, you must take in the DNA of the previous user."**

"That's gross." Jukei muttered off from the side.

"Ah." Izuku responded a little shakily. He reached out and grabbed the strand of hair. "I get it. It's just… different from what I expected." Powering through any apprehension he had, Izuku swallowed the strand of All Might-hair. It tasted really sour for some reason. After bitterly swallowing, he took a deep breath. "Okay," he said, "What now?"

" **Well, you don't expect it to be like flipping a switch, do you, my boy? You have to wait for it to digest!"**

Jukei was more than a little skeptical "Riiiiight…"

Izuku was far more open-minded. "That… sort of makes sense. I mean, if we're ingesting it, it's only natural."

Jukei decided to ask an important question. "So… what do we do until then?"

"Ah!" Izuku then remembered something he had to do, something that would definitely be harder than even cleaning up every beach in Japan. "All Might, I have to know. You said this power is a secret, but you never told me: Who else knows?"

" **Hmm?"** The titanic hero quickly returned to his scrawny form as he considered question. "Well, not many. Just a former sidekick of mine. You might have heard of him. The Forethoughtful Hero: Sir Nighteye?"

Izuku looked like he was about to jump straight up and never come back down. "Have I heard of him?" He's the only hero to have ever been your sidekick here in Japan, regardless of your rule against taking up sidekicks _anywhere_! I thought they were just rumors, little stories scattered across the internet to instill shock and awe! His agency specializes in surveillance, as opposed to most agencies which take up more active roles such as combat or rescue operations. But I know almost nothing about Sir Nighteye himself. I don't know his skills, or his quirk, or even what he looks like! He's even more low profile than Era-…"

"OKAY, so that's a yes." Garrick quickly cut Izuku off before he got too deep into it. "Anyway, he knows, but we haven't been in contact for quite some time. When I became weakened, we had a … disagreement over my next course of action." Izuku wanted to know what could have happened between them, but knew better than to ask. "But I doubt he'll blab to anyone. There are people at U.A. who know, the principle and the nurse. I have a very close friend in the local police force who knows. There are a handful of other people who know my secret, scattered across the world. And then… there's… my… mentor." Without meaning to, the gaunt man began shaking something fierce.

"Oh? All Might's Mentor?" Izuku's curiosity got the better of him. "What was this person like?"

He was sweating bullets now. "Oh… y-y-y-you know… He was j-…" he could stop shaking anytime now, "j-just … your run-of-the-m-m-mill… homeroom teacher…" stop shaking already, "but since I learned how to c-c-c-c-control One f-for All at the s-s-s-start," no seriously, stop, "it was all c-combat training for me, hehehehe."

"Woah!" Jukei commented. "Sounds like a beast! Although if he was a teacher while you were in high school, he's got to be fairly old now. Whatever, _I_ still like him"

He seemed to be oblivious to how terrified All Might, _freaking All Might_ , was trembling in fear at the thought of an old master who had to be way too decrepit to fight now. Izuku was not.

"Well, yes… but n-n-never underestimate the e-e-elderly. T-T-T-T-T-They l-l-leave q-q-q-quite the impressionnnnnnnnnn … damn it, legs! Stop shaking!"

Izuku was suddenly shaking with him. _How terrifying is this guy?_ "Was such a person ever really allowed to hold One for All?!"

Suddenly, All Might stopped shaking. His expression was no longer traumatized, but one of grim remembrance. "No." He answered firmly "He was… simply put in charge of training me, after the previous user… died."

Jukei's eyes widened at this.

"Oh." Izuku put a hand over his mouth "I'm… wow. I'm sorry for your loss."

"It's no big deal." The world's number 1 hero responded, looking of in remembrance. "I got over it years ago. I'll only ever be regretful if I can't live to see the world we had worked so hard to make a reality."

Izuku wouldn't pretend to completely understand. He didn't know what kind of world they worked towards, but …

"I'll help you build it if I can, All Might-sensei."

The man turned towards him, and smirked. "I told you to call me Garrick Lamont, kid. What would happen if some strangers came along and found you addressing some bony old man in loosed fitting clothes as the world's #1 hero?"

"Ah! You're right, I'm so sorry! But you're not an old man … Mr. Lamont."

"Eh, faltering, but that's beside the point Now…" He suddenly turned serious, as if he didn't already look it. "Why did you ask me about the people who knew my secret, young man? Who do you want to tell?"

From the side, Jukei's gaze turned to his first student unblinkingly. He'd been keeping an eye on him for ten years now. He knew Izuku would want to tell his friends. The only reason Jukei himself knew anything was because he just so happened to be with Izuku at every point that All Might had. Would he even have allowed him to know otherwise, regardless of his status as Izuku's mentor? What would All Might allow?

Izuku swallowed a small lump in his throat. He knew what he was about to ask. He was asking his idol, someone whose closely-guarded secret had world harmony in the balance, to trust a couple of children he'd never met with that very same secret.

But he didn't want to hide anything from them. They'd been through too much together to keep secrets from each other like that. They had known each other for years, never breaking contact with each other, even if one of them moved, or they suddenly stopped hanging out because of an emergency the rest hadn't heard about.

He didn't want to lose those friendships, just because they thought he couldn't trust them.

It is with these thoughts that he then calmly spoke. "Mr. Lamont, have you ever had friends so close to you that you could never keep anything from them, no matter how important it was?"

Garrick's eyes widened at this. Apparently whatever friends this young man had he had formed very strong bonds with them indeed. "My police friend I told you about? It didn't matter that he was a law enforcer. We had known each other long before then. He was with me when I had made my decision to become a hero. I wanted to create a world where everyone could live together in harmony, even though I was quirkless." Izuku gasped in shock at this. The scrawny man smirked. "That's right, my predecessor gave their quirk to a completely powerless kid. But even before then, he supported me all the way. He went onto become a SWAT officer, hoping to support me however he could, in however a small way." He looked up to the sky. "I didn't think there was anyone at the time who had ever stuck their neck out for me like he did." He looked back at Izuku, who looked at him in awe. "I can firmly say, young man, that I have indeed known companions of that caliber."

"I have four. I've known them since I was six, and we've all been working together towards our futures ever since." Izuku knew why he wasn't allowed to tell his mother or father, not that it would stop him. They were _civilians_. They weren't pro heroes, they weren't sidekicks, and they certainly weren't hero students. They were vulnerable, targets, if anyone wanted information on "All Might's secret Quirk." But his friends… they were stronger than anyone their age that he had met. They could handle themselves. And it wasn't like they wouldn't eventually figure it out anyway, _especially_ Tsucchan. She was the smartest of them, scarily observant, and – and this was the most dangerous factor – in a relationship with him. He would not keep any secrets from any girls named Tsuyu Asui who held that distiction. They had been dating for eight months, counting these past two strenuous periods of time he had been strength training. They had spent time in private, held hands, kissed…

God, he thought, blushing, he still remembered the first time they did it. It was awkward, even for a first kiss, considering she technically didn't have any lips. And there was the clicking of teeth, to be sure, but fortunately they could avoid the bumping of noses, since hers was more of a snout. But it was still so mind numbing that they didn't back away for what felt like several minutes. Their next few kisses would be similarly inexperienced. But they were both learners at heart, even when it came to a subject as embarrassing as romance. Eventually, they could kiss without too much struggle, they weren't too embarrassed to be close to one another. And then making out… Izuku shuddered, but not with displeasure. They had only done it a handful of times, but that made them more special.

Needless to say, they had already shared too much for him to hide something from her. Even something – _especially_ something – of this magnitude. "I can tell you they wouldn't go off and tell anyone, and if I don't tell them, they could very well figure it out. Mina is extremely chatty, but she can definitely keep a secret, and she wouldn't betray us under any circumstances. Eijiro is my best friend. He's got a will as strong as his body when he uses his Quirk, probably stronger. Fumikage hardly talks anyway, and he never says anything that shouldn't be said. Tsuyu is…" He paused at this, because he needed to breathe deeply, and say the next thing he would say very calmly, so that All Might knew he was aware of his next words and their implications.

"Tsucchan is highly perceptive, maybe even more than me. She knew I was hiding something when I told her I would be doing this… alternate form of training." The scrawny symbol of peace raised an eyebrow at this. He wouldn't mind meeting this girl. "Also… we've kind of… been… dating." All Might's other eyebrow joined its twin in its raised state. "I know… I know there's always that lingering chance that a relationship doesn't work out. But… It's been six months, and I… I can firmly say that…" he felt his face heating up, but he would not be deterred. "…I really, really, really, really, really, _really_ like her, and if I don't tell her the truth, all of the truth, and nothing but the truth like she knows I haven't… there's a good chance she'll strangle me, and not with affection."

Off to the side, Jukei covered up a snort of laughter, knowing that Izuku was most likely correct.

Meanwhile, All Might was beside himself! Was he really entertaining the idea of adding a whopping 4 people to the small list of those who knew about his powers? Well, the lad pretty much filled out the questions he would have had with the required answers.

He trusted them.

He trusted them with his life.

He valued their friendships.

He had put serious thought into this.

In the end, it would lay upon him, the ninth inheritor of One for All, to decide who knew about it, and who didn't. It would be his own burden to choose who he could and could not trust.

"Only them." He spoke, his voice firm and uncompromising. "And anything I have yet to tell you now will not be for them to hear later."

Izuku beamed. "Yes sir!"

The gaunt Number 1 hero sighed. "Every day I have less time and less power to perform hero duties. As I told you I barely have three hours. Before long the whole world will know anyway, and I won't be able to use one for all at all. You said your friends were going to be hero's? I can only assume they are going to U.A. high, same as you. Perhaps it is better that someone else in your class know as well less damage than if someone on the outside knew." He sighed again. "To be honest, I am not really sure I can trust them with this secret as you feel you can, but if I can't trust my protégé, then what kind of teacher am I?"

Jukei quickly inserted himself into the conversation. "Well, that's great and all, but for all we know we still have between one or two hours before he can test his power."

"Indeed." All Might agreed. He suddenly wore a very devious grin. "Say, young Midoriya. I seem to recall telling you to take the garbage _all_ the way to the dump. What's this enormous pile doing here?"

Izuku huffed, but began to get to work on the remaining pile in the lot.

* * *

 **(1) For his cute face. Duh.**

 **Credit for inspiration for "Entry through the warehouse" goes to the aptly named Kamil the Awesome**

 **Credit for inspiration for Inko's inner monologue goes to SevenRenny. I could really only imitate. No way I could say anything different without embarrassing myself.**

 **Sorry if "Always next time" seemed rather OOC for Inko. I just wanted to imply that she was okay with the whole harem thing. I'll elaborate better next chapter.**

 **Fumikage Tokoyami**

 **Age: 15**

 **Gender: Male**

 **Height: cm 168/ 5' 6"**

 **Weight: 59 kgs /130 lbs.**

 **Eyes: Red**

 **Hair: Black**

 **Nationality: Japanese**

 **Date of Birth: October 30** **th**

 **Handedness: Right**

 **Blood Type: AB**

 **Likes: Apples, dark places, high places**

 **Dislikes: Bright Places, Large crowds**

 **Character Theme: Skillet – Whispers in the Dark**

 **Quirk: Dark Shadow – Fumikage's body contains a creature of sentient shadow that he can manifest and contract to and from his body freely. Fumikage can utilize Dark Shadow for various purposes including but not limited to attack, defense, literal heavy lifting, and restraint. Dark shadow becomes weaker in light, but easier to control. By direct contrast, darkness and negative emotions make him far more powerful, but harder to control. Being made of pure darkness, Dark Shadow's body is also malleable, allowing Fumikage to make him into the form of such objects as a spear, a small platform, a cloak, a dome, or even certain animals, among other things.**

 **Costume: A simple black cloak with a purple tint that covers his entire torso, and black boots. He also has a set of night vision goggles on his head to help him see in the dark, unlike his companion, who can see naturally.**

 **Fighting Style: Medium/close-range**

 _ **Skills:**_

 **Shape shifting: Fumikage can change the form which dark shadow takes as he pleases, provided he is of sufficient size, such as a snake, a wolf, or even a mammoth.**

 **Pressure point fighting: while not the physically strongest of fighters, Fumikage is anepert in pressure-point fighting, as opposed to other martial arts which require more force.**

 **Observant: while most would write off Fumikage's distant behavior as antisocial, he is actually has rather adept perceptive abilities, studying others from afar, and determining how to interact with them.**

 _ **Special Moves:**_

 **Night Axe: Fumikage shapes Dark Shadow into a blade, and sends him into a vertical slash. This move is meant to be quick, so all part of it happen very quickly.**

 **Black Sanctum: Fumikage Turns Dark shadow into a dome, cloaking him around himself and others within a limited range.**

 **Black Ankh: Fumikage dons and equips Dark Shadow onto himself, wearing it like a suit of armor or an exoskeleton. According to Fumikage, equipping Dark Shadow onto himself mitigates his physical weaknesses.**

 **Piercing Claw of the Dusk: Fumikage shoots out Dark Shadow's claw which attacks at great speed.**

 **Gloom of the Black Arm : Fumikage enlarges Dark Shadows arms and smashes his targets with them.**

 **Black Fallen Angel: Fumikage wraps himself up in Dark Shadow's arms and allows himself to be carried by it, while Dark Shadow flies by flapping its arms as wings.**

 **Black Bindings: Dark shadow sends out several tenfdils of darkness, enveloping enemies as well as civilians, whether for binding or protection.**

 **Power - 4/5; B**

 **Speed - 4/5; C**

 **Technique - 5/5; A**

 **Intelligence - 4/5; B**

 **Cooperativeness - 5/5; A**

 **I should note: many of you seem convinced that Fumikage's head is that of a black bird. While it is true his character is comparable to that of Raven from the Teen Titans, Horikoshi overlooked one little detail: Black** _ **birds**_ **also have black** _ **beaks**_ **, and Fumikage's is yellow like any other bird's. He's made him a hawk whether he meant to or not.**

 **Beware: the next chapter may very well be the longest in the whole work, regardless of future chapters. I will cover the next seven months before the entrance exam, and will feature** _ **many**_ **character introductions.**


	5. Three Months of Hell, pt 2

**And here's part two**

 _ **Several Hours Later**_

 _ **UA High, Loading Bay**_

All Might had decided it would be best not to test Izuku's power on the beach where everyone could see it.

As such, and much to Izuku's excitement, it was agreed that the three of them would travel to U.A. to train Izuku's quirk.

'Train Izuku's quirk.' In another time those words might have lost their luster, if not for the fact that he was training with the greatest Quirk in the world belonging to the greatest hero in the world. Izuku was trying very hard not to jump into the sky in excitement. With the power he could now currently feel at his disposal, he could likely do it too.

And they were going to U.A. to do it.!

Had he been less excited he would have noted they were entering through the loading bay and not the front gates.

Speaking of the power he now wielded, he could feel One for All coursing beneath his skin. Against his will he felt more than ready, eager, to use his earned powers, but All Might had warned him of the way such power could affect him. If he tried to use full power without the necessary training, it could destroy his body, breaking bones and bruising every inch of flesh. That was _before_ the intense training of hauling an entire beach of garbage nonstop. Even now, he was still afraid to break his body with the slightest move. He remembered what All Might had advised as a method of activating his new quirk.

 _ **Think of it as a storm of energy surging throughout your entire body. Suddenly, you will find yourself hitting, running, jumping, and**_ **enduring** _ **on an entirely new level. Rocks will feel like styrofoam, punches will feel more like slaps, and when you are ready to unleash the power within you, just clench up your buttcheeks, and yell this from the depths of your heart!-**_

That was as far as he had gotten before Izuku realized he was reliving his own use of it. The rest, fortunately, made sense.

Entering the loading bay, they came to a wooden-looking door , on which a powered-down Garrick knocked. Answering from the other side was a small white rodent in a business suit and with a scar on his right eye, who All Might recognized immediately.

"Ah, good to see you, Nedzu sir!"

"That's me." The well-dressed animal said. "The one who might be a dog, or a bear, or a mouse..."

'Wait,' Izuku thought, 'this man knows All Might's true form? And he works here at U.A.?'

"But the only important thing is..."

'That would make him either the nurse or...'

"I'm the principal!"

"EEEHHH?!" Izuku could not hide his shock. He turned to Garrick. "He's the principal?! But I've never heard of a hero like him!"

Garrick turned to look at his successor. "That's because Mr. Nedzu doesn't do work as a hero; at least, not in the traditional sense. He spends the majority of the time here at the school, managing the education of future heroes."

"Quite right," The animal educator said, putting a paw to his cheek, "I'm not really suited for fieldwork anyway. Even with my intellect, I would do more damage than I would prevent." Izuku couldn't help but wonder what kind of quirk this mouse - definitely a mouse - had that he could cause too much damage to do hero work. Said rodent turned his attention to the young inheritor. "You must be Midoriya Izuku. I'm ever so excited to meet you in person." He said, taking Izuku's hand into a handshake.

"It's nice to meet you, sir." Izuku said, unsure of what to think.

Nedzu then turned his attention to Jukei, who had never before seen him and was now staring at him incredulously. Realizing Nedzu was looking at him expectantly, he quickly introduced himself. "Uh..."

"Ah! You must be the Backlash Hero, Penance." He said, surprising the hero in question. "I've read your file! You must be young Midoriya's original teacher All Might told me of."

"...Yes..." He really wasn't sure what else to say.

"Well," Nedzu said, "I think we've exchanged pleasantries sufficiently. Let's get to training your use of One for All."

With that, they went through the door, heading down a thin corridor leading... somewhere, where they would train his quirk.

There it was again, whenever he or someone else said that!

Eventually, surfaces of dirt and grime gave way to white polished tiles, and before he knew it, they were standing in a white metal area the size of a ballroom. Of to the side was a single door, and what looked like an observational chamber up above, identified by a two-way window, where several chairs could be seen, one occupied by a small old lady who wore a doctor's uniform with yellow and red vest-like designs on either side, two yellow buttons, and a pink belt. and yellow gloves. Her hair was tied in a bun and her eyes, hid behind a visor-like helmet of some kind, were small and beady.

Nedzu spoke. "Welcome to the All Room, a secret area on the U.A. High campus built specifically for beginners in training for use of One for All. The walls here are made with the same metals built to survive nuclear war!"

Izuku gaped slightly. They built a room this big just to train a single student? Were they trying that hard to keep a secret? Considering how strong they claimed the walls to be, it was most likely. It was enough that they wouldn't have to worry about breaking through any other walls and garnering some unwanted attention.

"Mr. Penance," Nedzu said, "follow me to the survey chamber. Mr. Midoriya and All Might will be the only ones who can hope to survive the sheer force of their own quirks."

Jukei disagreed. "Actually sir, I want to be at the ready for when Izuku is able to properly use his ... inherited quirk to fight. I want to see how strong he is. Who knows?" He slammed a fist into his palm. "It might be the first time he makes it hard to take him down."

The principal stared at him unreadably for a moment, then... "Very well then, stand by for combat testing." With that, he headed through the door, straight to the room above.

All Might, for his part, was taken aback by Jukei's certainty that he would figure out how to use One for All before he even left. Not that he doubted his intelligence. The young man was more than just a little bright to be sure. He had gotten a small glance at the hero analysis book while the boy was unconscious, and his profiling was intimidating. He even managed to use a poison-based weapon on a gelatinous opponent by aiming for a more solid part of him that most people wouldn't pay too much mind to. He was full of surprises.

"So," Izuku said, turning to his newer mentor. "Where's the training dummy?"

The gaunt man simply smirked at him, before switching to his super form. **"Who're you calling dummy?"**

The other pro hero and the student gaped at him, before the former responded.

"I'm sorry… are you saying you want him to hit you with a power that could potentially blow a man to fucking pieces?!"

" **I do not believe I stuttered."** The large hero said, pounding his chest with one fist. **"Besides, I'll have you remember I am no ordinary man."**

Izuku decided to add his input. "But what would punching you do that a training dummy wouldn't?"

" **I'm glad you asked."** The symbol of peace admitted. **"You see, I was able to control 100% of one for all from the beginning, but my predecessor had broken both her arms with her first use, even after her own intense training. Even though I was able to use all of it, she still gave me the necessary advice to pass on to my own successor:"**

" _Make sure they use it on a real person."_

" _Huh?!" A young Garrick Lamont looked at his teacher, Nana Shimura, incredulously. "But all that power… I could very well_ kill _someone!"_

" _That's what I thought too." Nana told him. "But the first time I actually used it on a person, not only did they_ not _die, I suddenly found I could use part of One for All without any visible strain. It led me to a theory that, like all human functions, One for All can be influenced by instinct."_

" _Eh?"_

" _Think of it like this:Wwhen using the immense power One for All has stored away on another living creature for the first time, they have this instinctive thought that they don't want to kill that person. One for All responds to this thought by pulling back on it's power…"_

"… **And bringing it to the level at which they can control it."** All Might finished. **"The idea is that you'll get a hold of this lower power setting until you can use it at will. We will train until you can properly use One for All."**

"Okay…" Izuku got into a fighting stance as he attempted to activate One for All, remembering what All Might had told him. _A storm of energy…_ he thought, concentrating on the feeling. He suddenly felt the power coursing through him. _Throughout my entire body..._ So focused was he on harnessing the power, that he did not notice the glow of power his body was giving of, as electricity seemed to dance across his skin. _Then yell from the depths of your heart!_ He jumped up, raised his fist…

"SMAAAAAAAAASH!"

And then he _punched_ All Might.

As the resulting gale-force wind pressure caused Jukei to stumble, All might shifted back unnoticeably, and Izuku's arm didn't break. It simply bounced off of All Might's torso. He landed straight in front of All Might, looking down at his unbroken, but power-infused arm. This…this was incredible! It was strength like no other, and now it was his. He couldn't use all of it, but even the smallest bit, he felt… he was one step closer to becoming the best hero!

" **Don't stop now, young Midoriya."** All Might said. **"The power output is definitely lower than 100%, but you must get used to the feeling! Hit me again!"**

Dozens of punches later, Izuku's hands felt sore. He had finally found he could use a fraction of the power without hurting himself. Now, there he stood, his body crackling with energy, ready to put this power to a more… practical test.

"Alright." Jukei said. "Now that we've got this control business out of the way, it's time for combat training." He slipped into a stance. He crouched slightly and raised his fists to his front. "I hope your ready, Izuku. This new power of yours just means I'll have to try a little harder to take you down!" He then rushed at Izuku, his right hand reeled back in a punch. All Might, deciding he was right, had jumped back to give them space.

But Izuku was more than prepared. Jukei would often begin a sparring session out of the blue, to keep Izuku vigilant and alert. The first time he did this, he sent Izuku into a tree. His mother had read him the riot act while the green-haired teen was sitting in a medical bed with his left arm in a cast. Izuku leapt straight up. Jukei leapt straight after him, preparing a left kick to the side. Izuku tanked the blow head-on, and then grabbed the leg pressing into his side. The teen then reeled his feet back as fast as he could, and slammed them straight into Jukei's midsection, before twisting his body, so that his back was to Jukei, and throwing him over his shoulder. Unprepared for this move, Jukei simply fell to the ground several feet beneath the two of them.

Above, Izuku raised his fist into a punch, and then slammed his fist into… the floor. Jukei appeared to his left and punched him in the head. Izuku rolled a short distance, before quickly getting to his feet, and intercepting an uppercut by flipping backwards. He then found himself exchanging a flurry of blows with Jukei.

"What's wrong, Izuku?!" Jukei taunted. "Getting sleepy?"

"Yeah," the freckled boy retorted, "I spent a little too much time with your mom!"

"Oh that does it!" Jukei threw a punch so quick Izuku couldn't block, and it landed on Izuku's right cheek. The green haired inheritor bounced several times before he landed on his feet, and just barely avoided getting headache punched by ducking under him. He took the opportunity to slam both his fists into his fighting Mentors gut. Stunned momentarily, Jukei was open to several more gut punches before Izuku switched targets and smashed Jukei in the face, causing his cheek to cave in. Jukei stumbled slightly, and Izuku aimed a vicious kick to his right kneecap, bending it backwards. All Might was shocked by this action, but suspected that there was a reason Izuku had knowingly crippled his teacher in what was supposed to just be a simple spar. Izuku took the opportunity to pick Jukei up by the other arm, swing him around, and then throw him several meters away.

Feeling the spar had come to an end, All Might stepped in. **"Was it really necessary to break him like that, young Midoriya? Now he'll have to recuperate before he can go on patrols."**

"He won't be the one recuperating, All Might." Izuku said, not taking his eyes off of where Jukei was laying down. He suddenly noticed just how nervous Izuku looked, like he was prepared to receive a whipping. "This spar isn't over just yet. And _he_ won't be the one broken when it is."

Suddenly, Jukei stood back up, his busted kneecap apparently no longer an issue, and the bruises he'd had quickly fading. A feral grin was stretched across his features. "Not bad, Izuku." He said, popping his knuckles. "You managed to do some serious damage." Suddenly, a bright red glow began to cover his arms, and was stretching across his torso under his shirt. "Now… It's time to receive your punishment!"

[Jukei Ikinuku]

[Quirk(s): Hyper-heal, Pain Stock]

[With one Quirk, he can heal any injury, including broken bones and severed limbs. With the other, all the damage he accumulates over the course of a fight is added to his own strength.]

Jukei _moved_.

Izuku was unable to dodge, and did a poor job blocking, as Jukei placed a fist deep in his gut. His durability was not increased nearly enough to keep that from _hurting_. Jukei quickly followed up with a left hook, and he grabbed Izuku by his legs, threw him up into the air, and followed up with a jump far higher than what he was previously capable of. He appeared above Izuku, who crossed his arms trying to block, but was unable to keep the following straight kick from sending him straight into the metal floor below, shaping the floor with a small crater.

Jukei stood above Izuku as he writhed at the pain of the stinging metal floors. Clearly his apprentice was unable to continue. Something was very likely broken.

All Might appeared next to him. **"…Was that really necessary?"**

"I had to release the energy built up from all those blows or I would have been unable to control it the longer I held it in. I might have been holding a person, and ended up spontaneously breaking their backs as if it was a knee-jerk reaction."

" **Ah, I see."** All Might understood, as he deflated. "Does this often happen?"

"Not really, just when he and my other students manage to get a number of hits in."

"These, other students," All Might ventured, "I suspect they are the friends to whom Izuku wishes to expose the secret of One for All to?"

"They are indeed." Jukei confirmed, smiling.

Garrick threw him a look. "I hope he knows what he's doing by telling them."

"You mean like Mr. Punishment Hero here did when he hit his student with that kind of power?" Came a snarky reply from an aged woman's voice. The two of them turned to see the old woman from the observation chamber walking towards them, with Principal Nedzu close behind her. Walking passed the two heroes, she turned her attention straight to Izuku, who was trying hard to hold still, since his back had been broken upon the impact. She did not kneel down to observe his injuries, she didn't even turn him over to confirm that any were on his back; instead, her lips extended out towards him, and she planted her lips on his forehead.

*Chu*

For a moment, a green glow surrounded Izuku, and he suddenly found he could move again. However, as soon as he got up, he was exhausted.

"My quirk stimulates the body's ability to heal," The woman elaborated, "but healing takes energy. Thank goodness your injuries weren't more severe, dearie, or you could have died."

Izuku paled. "Thanks for that thought."

"What a successful test this has turned out to be." Principal Nedzu chirped. "But I think that Mr. Midoriya is currently incapable of fighting any more for today. Take him home and let us continue tomorrow."

Suddenly, Jukei got an Idea. "Actually sir, I'm going to train Izuku on the beach Izuku cleaned up as part of his training. Since he's able to properly fight with his quirk, we can spar publicly without any one wondering why he injures himself with his own Quirk, and I wouldn't mind making that a personal sparring ground for us.

"Well," the principle stroked his chin thoughtfully, "I suppose I could be lenient and allow him to train elsewhere until it's time for the U.A. Entrance exam. But be warned, if his control happens to slip, it will be quite clear he cannot handle it's power on his own, and we'll have to keep him here until he can."

"Understood, sir." With that, he picked up Izuku and slung him over his shoulder, and he and Garrick headed out of the facility. Unbeknownst to All Might, Jukei was secretly getting out his phone an sending an email to four particular contacts.

 _ **July 3rd, A Week Later**_

 _ **Tagoba Municipal Beach**_

Laying on the sand, a towel beneath him, the sun high in the sky, and in a pair of trunks, Izuku was feeling just a little bit frustrated. Jukei, in civilian clothing of sandals, a jean jacket with a red shirt and khaki shorts, was laying next to him after their intense sparring session. Once he had gotten used to the feeling of using One for All, All Might had been able to determine, through his connection via the transmission of One for All, that Izuku could use... one percent without strain. Izuku was admittedly a little bit distressed, but he could only offer that he allow One for All ample time to fully awaken. Izuku wasn't sure what he meant, but he felt there was more to his quirk than his new teacher was willing to tell him.

"Okay, let's get back to it!" He suddenly said, jumping straight back to his feet.

From beside him, his teacher was surprised. "Already? It's barely been five minutes. I thought you'd need more time, even with the extra energy."

Izuku paused, realizing that Jukei was right. Even with the virtually unlimited energy supplied by One for All, he still got exhausted, though it took way longer than usual, a total of three hours, to be exact. This was not the first time this had happened. Just yesterday, an exhausted Izuku had accidently touched a frayed wire connecting his computer, and suddenly felt the urge to go on a long jog. But he just felt ready, like he had suddenly … recharged. "I… don't know sir. I just feel ready, like I've suddenly got all my energy back. I feel like… sitting here under the sun has somehow given me all the energy I need."

Suddenly, All Might was behind them in civilian clothing. **"I AM HERE, TO EXPLAIN!"** Student and master jumped several feet into the air before turning to see All Might behind them. **"You see, there is something else I think it's time I explained about One for All."**

"Why tell us now instead of later?!" Jukei yelled exasperatedly.

" **Because I wanted you to feel it firsthand."** Garrick responded. **"You see, One for All doesn't just store up the combined physical prowess of all it's users; it also stockpiles their quirks."**

Izuku's eyes widened at this. "What?!"

" **You see, the reason they were even able to use One for All is because that bit of DNA they get from past users is not simply digested: it performs a** _ **merger**_ **with them, melding into their very beings, and improving them beyond the added strength. This is because, since the energy is meant to enhance it could, let's say, fix 'broken' individuals."**

Now Izuku was just confused.

" **For example, a supposedly quirkless person could,** _ **could**_ **, have a quirk 'awakened' from within them based on what their parents had. If you remember, I was originally quirkless before receiving One for All. When 'my' quirk awakened, I suddenly found I could transform into the form that you see before you, which people have associated with the symbol of peace."** Izuku's eyes widened even further. **"Don't look so surprised. I did it to keep from being associated with the other users, since none of** _ **them**_ **could do it."**

That made sense to Izuku. How else did the previous users of One for All escape comparison? They must have used their powers differently from one another. But that reminded Izuku…

"Wait, you mean I have eight quirks in my body?!"

" **Nine quirks, young man, including whatever will awaken within** _ **you**_ **."**

Izuku sat down on the sand. He had nine quirks now! And one of them would be one that could have hypothetically been his! This was insane! But…

"Wait, you said one of the quirks was responsible for me being recharged so quickly. Which one?"

Garrick cupped his chin. **"In theory, the fact that it appeared second, before One for All itself, means it belonged to the second user. The name of that Quirk is Power Spark, and it allows the user to absorb any kind of energy in small doses."** He pointed to the blinding celestial body in the sky. **"By sitting in the sunlight, you absorbed solar energy. When you were fighting beforehand, having the enhancing power of One for All, even at just one percent, increased the amount of energy you could absorb, and it allowed you to go on fighting for even longer."**

"That explains it." Izuku said. "Just yesterday, I had accidentally touched a frayed cable on my computer, and I suddenly went from exhausted to pumped up, even though I still ended up getting a third-degree burn."

" **Allow me to be clear."** Garrick said. **"You can absorb larger amounts with power spark, but it will be more painful the more you absorb beyond your limit. And you cannot project the energy you have absorbed. Believe me, I tried."**

Izuku paused at that. The implications of that _one_ quirk were nothing to scoff at. While doing hero work on sunnier days when he would be more easily exhausted, the sun would simultaneously be wearing him out and giving him energy, though he had yet to figure out which it leaned more towards. Combine that with the virtually unlimited energy of One for All, which would simultaneously increase the amount of energy he could absorb without backlash, he could probably continue on without rest for hours! Staying up for days was out of the question; sleep was an essential biological process. "So, what about the other quirks?"

" **Actually, I think I'll save that whole bit for when I explain to your** _ **very reliable**_ **friends who are training to be** _ **heroes**_ **that their** _ **oh-so valued**_ **friend has inherited my quirk, and that it is his** _ **mission**_ **to become the new symbol of peace, and keep the** _ **worst of villains**_ **at bay."** All Might was hoping that his point about the magnitude of this secret had gotten across to him, but he didn't seem visibly worried. He figured doing it as a reminder of their little talk would shake him a bit more.

"That's actually a pretty good idea. Okay, we'll wait for them."

Or maybe he was dealing with it just fine. That was good too.

Jukei smirked. That talk was going to be sooner than they thought.

"HEY IZUKU!"

Suddenly, the three of them jumped in surprise upon hearing Eijiro's call from the entrance to the beach. They turned to see Izuku's aforementioned group of companions standing at the top of the stairs. Eijiro was dumbstruck, with his mouth hanging open and his arms hanging at his sides. Mina looked like she was ready to spontaneously combust in excitement, bouncing up and down. Fumikage's eyes were widened to their limit as he stood there. Tsuyu, ever cool-headed and unperturbed, was holding her mouth open in _shock_! And her hands, usually held out in front of her, were hanging much lower than she normally had them. And all of them were looking. Straight. At. All. Might.

See what I meant earlier?

Izuku suddenly found himself tackled by a tan blur with a bit of red. Three times in less than three months. What happened? Oh, Eijiro was on top of him. And he was yelling something at Izuku, throttling him by his shoulders. Let's tune back in.

"WHAT THE HELL, MAN?! YOU NEVER SAID YOU WERE TRAINING WITH ALL MIGHT, THE HERO-EST HERO EVER! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US?! THAT WAS SO NOT MANLY! WAIT, WAS THAT THE SECERET TSUYU-CHAN SAID YOU WERE KEEPING FROM US?! I'M CONFUSED! WHY AM I STILL YELLING?!"

All Might and Jukei beheld the spectacle before with great bemusement as Mina, Fumikage, and Tsuyu made their way towards the group.

Izuku had had quite enough of being throttled and tried to calm down his irate friend. "Eicchan! EICCHAN CALM DOWN! I promise to explain everything once you stop freaking out.

Eijiro let go and helped his friend get off the ground. His frustration slowly replaced with excitement "Sorry about that, man. Seriously though, what's this about?! Is All Might the guy you said was your other trainer! That's awesome! You're so lucky, catching the man among heroes' attention!" Before he was able to continue, Mina suddenly practically teleported over to All Might, looking the man over as if to confirm he was real before placing herself in front of him, a pink flurry of excitement and questions.

"OH MY GOD YOU REALLY ARE ALL MIGHT! WHEN DID YOU GET TO JAPAN?! ARE YOU STAYING THAT WOULD BE SO AWESOME! ARE YOU TEACHING IZUKU?! CAN I PLLLLEEEEEEEAAAASSE HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH?!" She then turned to grab her green-haired crush by his shoulders and shake him at a sickening pace. "IZU WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE HANGING OUT WITH THE BEST HERO EVER?! SO NOT FAIR!"

"M-Mina! I'll tell you if you stop throttling me! Follow Eicchan's lead!"

Mina huffed at his. Reluctantly, she let go and stepped back. As soon as she did, though, she looked at Izuku, and realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. Beside her, Tsuyu had already started staring.

"Anyway, what are you guys… doing… here?"

This did not escape Izuku's notice. And why wouldn't they stare? Before them was a boy they had been fond of for quite a while, growing into a young man and in nothing but swimming trunks. And boy was it a sight! They trained to together enough that they had seen a fair amount of one another. But this? His glistening torso was a sight to behold! His legs looked like they were going to just tear the skin open with all the lean muscle he had put on! Seeing his shoulders shift with each breathe he drew in was tantalizing. His abs stretching as he took the breath into his stomach was drool-worthy.

Holy shit! When did their mutual crush get so _hot_?!

With the passing of a few second, Izuku realized that they were staring. Tsuyu, with her characteristic blank look, had her cheeks overtaken in a lovely rosy red. Mina was practically drooling, and her cheeks were dusted with lilac. He looked down, and remembered he wasn't wearing a shirt. He blushed as he tried to speak.

"Ah! I'm sorry! Sensei, could I please put a shirt on?" Getting a nod and a chuckle, Izuku ran off for a moment. A minute later, they were all standing there, Izuku having gotten a shirt on, and still rather red. Eijiro and Fumikage chuckled at his embarrassment, the girls were still blushing a little too, and All Might sweat dropped in the midst of it all.

"So," Izuku said, fighting off his blush, "when did you guys decide to come to the beach?"

"Eh?!" Eijiro looked at him in confusion. "Didn't Sensei tell you? He'd told us a week ago that we were all gonna head to the beach next week, and that we could take it easy on training until then." He looked over to All Might. "I wasn't expecting a surprise like _this_."

Jukei looked to the hero in question, who glanced at him and then nodded. Oh. So he'd planned this, and didn't even tell him. That was okay. He turned to face his friends. He'd supposed he'd held this off for too long. He should have gone to tell them the day after he'd been given the power. Maybe Jukei had tried giving him that week to think about his decision. He appreciated it if that was the case, but he'd already made his decision.

He turned to All Might. "All Might sir, these are my friends." He gestured to Mina. "This is Ashido Mina." He then turned to Eijiro "And this is Kirishima Eijiro." He then looked over to Fumikage. "This is my very good friend Tokoyami Fumikage." Izuku then turned to Tsuyu, who was looking at Izuku expectantly. "And this is my girlfriend, Asui Tsuyu. She's been… the most insistent to meet you."

This confused the girl in question. Then it clicked. What he needed to tell them involved All Might. Tsuyu wanted to know the most. Knowing would require they meet All Might. That and she did sort of want to meet the Number One Hero in person. Izuku looked up to him, after all. Maybe she would learn why exactly. She turned to Izuku, who looked back at her. "Izuku?" She said. "I think we've waited long enough. _I've_ waited long enough. Tell us. _Now_."

Putting on a solemn expression, Izuku nodded. "Okay. But guys, I need to tell you now. You cannot, under any circumstances – even if we eventually go our separate ways – tell anyone a word of what you hear, at any time, in any place. Not your parents, not your siblings, not any new friends you make, not a hero you meet on the street – no one." They all nodded, completely understanding. Behind them, Jukei sent All Might a look that said " _See?"_ and was ignored. "And I'm not asking for me." He clarified. "I'm asking for All Might."

Before any of them could ask what he was talking about, the inheritor turned to All Might, walked towards him, and silently asked him to reveal himself. Apprehensively the large man complied. Suddenly, a poof of smoke appeared around the hero, and the group was appropriately startled. After a minute or so, the smoke quickly cleared away, and the children were presented the sight of an abnormally scrawny man, who's clothes hung off of his body. His mouth seemed to be set in a sort of a tight-lipped grimace, and the skin around his eyes were shadowed over, and absent of any eyebrows. But his eyes, his _eyes_ , were filled with a fire, one that it seemed would never go out.

For what seemed like hours, nothing was said. It was Tsuyu who managed to break the silence. "Izuku…" She sounded more nervous than Izuku had heard her in her entire life. "What happened to All Might?"

Izuku took note that she did not deny it was All Might. Good. He didn't want to have a repeat of the first time he met him. But for an instant, just an instant, he hesitated, conflicted about what he was about to do. But he pushed it down the instant after that. They would be able to handle it. They had each other to lean on, if not. "He…" He was looking for a way to properly describe it "… powered down. This is what he really looks like."

Eijiro and Mina had no idea what to say. They were completely speechless. When they looked at Izuku, they could tell he wasn't kidding. There was no twitching in his lips in an attempt to hold in any laughter, there was no stutter in what he said, no shaking in silent amusement… nothing.

"It's true, young ones." The voice the man spoke in. That was what had confirmed it for them. I was low and raspy. But it belonged to the greatest hero the world had ever been privileged with. They had heard it many times, alongside their green-haired friend. "Young Midoriya is being fully honest with all of you."

Fumikage was the one to speak, oddly enough. "But… how? I… what… what happened?"

"Like I said, nothing you hear can be repeated anywhere else to anyone else."

Izuku and All Might explained everything. The true nature of All Might's quirk, his crippled current power, how he came to choose Izuku as his successor, the training they had been doing for the past two months, Izuku's sudden discovery of having more than one quirk… nothing was left unsaid. Izuku's friends hung on every word in uninterrupted silence. Izuku himself explained how One for All worked; how it could be passed down, how to be able to handle it, and what would happen if he went overboard with it.

At the end of all the explaining, they sat in silence, processing the information in full. Fumikage was wondering if Izuku was being just a bit too trusting with this information, even if it was them. Eijiro was trying his best to not panic at all he had been told, as it hit him just how big a secret he'd been exposed to. Mina was just finding this all waaaaay too much to process. And Tsuyu… was just sitting there contemplatively, all of her previous nervousness having disappeared.

"So…" All Might was now sitting before them, his hands clasped together contemplatively, "Do you have any questions?"

Oh boy, did they.

Fumikage went first. "You are All Might, and this is your true form?"

"Yes."

Next was Mina. "And you used to be quirkless?"

"Yes."

Eijiro Chimed in. "And this… One for All-quirk… can be passed on between people, like how the last person who had it passed it to you, not to mention each person who gets it gets the quirks of past users?."

"Correct."

Tsuyu surprised everyone by being the last one to say anything. "And… you gave this quirk… to Izuku?"

"…I did." He let out a sigh. "I was surprised to find he was so willing to share it with his friends, and so many. I thought he'd ask to tell his parents."

Mina, who had her eyes closed in an attempt to process this load of information, spoke up. "Not in a million years." Mina said. "I don't think Ms. Midoriya's poor little heart could take it." It was _mostly_ a joke.

"But man," Ejiro said, "I can understand why you'd wanna be so tight-lipped about it. I'd probably hesitate to tell any of you guys to." He turned to All Might and threw a reassuring thumbs up. "And don't worry. We won't tell anyone!"

"Your secret is safe with us, All Might sir." Fumikage spoke solemnly.

"Incidentally," Tsuyu spoke up, "Who else knows?"

Garrick allowed himself to let out a sigh of relief he hadn't even known he was holding. "Just two staff Members at U.A., my old mentor, a man on the police force, a few individuals across the globe… and now you." The scratched the back of his head. "Looking at it now, maybe four other people knowing wasn't _quite_ that horribly risky."

"I'm still really confused" Mina confessed. "This is a lot to take in, a _whole_ lot. I might still be trying to understand it years from now, but…" She flashed a blinding smile. "I got it. We won't tell a soul!"

Eijiro held out a tightened fist "You have our word on it, All Might!"

Izuku beamed at his friends. He was grateful they were so _cool_!

All Might for his part, could not stop the grin that spread across his face. He sincerely hoped they got into. U.A. The school would be so much more fun!

"So…"

"Izuku," Tsuyu started, "we understand. You were under a lot of pressure. I would have done the same."

The group was now heading towards the train station after a long four-on-one sparring session. Izuku was still nervous about having kept a secret from his friends, no matter how big it was. He almost felt stupid, he thought as he smiled. These were the friends he'd had when the whole world around him had left him with only his parents, and a man who, at the time, was a complete stranger. They knew him well enough that they could trust him when he was keeping a secret from them for a good reason.

Their perspective of him hadn't changed in the least. He was still their friend; their confidant; their tenacious, golden-hearted Midoriya Izuku.

"Well I'm glad it's all settled then." He then turned to his friends. "But this won't make training any easier for me, as far as I'm concerned. If anything, I'm gonna work harder now. I'll take the U.A. Exam and pass! More than that, I'll excel! So much so that no one else's score will even come close to mine! And then I'll take on every practical exercise they throw at me, and pass with flying colors! I'll make each new event into another step closer to becoming the greatest hero in history!"

His friends were in awe at his display of drive. In the past they'd heard him talk about it, and he'd been driven in the exercises, to be sure. But the… fire with which he carried those words… it was as if he was laying down the law of the land, and nobody, not even oh-so factual Tsuyu, was willing to dispute with him on it. Not that _she_ disagreed. She could understand where this was coming from. He had always wanted to be the greatest, but now it was his _responsibility_. In time, people would continue to expect the best from him. Idly, she wondered when the immeasurable pressure of the role would hit him.

Eventually they had made their way to the train station, and now it was just Tsuyu and Mina on the train, alone in the train car. However, neither of them was willing to get off until they had finished their current subject of discussion.

"How…" Mina spoke, "can someone be so _cute_ … and so hot at the SAME GODDAMN TIME!?"

Both were blushing furiously, and even Tsuyu couldn't stop a mix of excitement and self-disappointment from leaking into her voice. "Six months. I've been the bare minimum of intimate with… with…" she couldn't even find words to describe it that would do it justice, " _all that_ for _six. Whole. Months_?!"

Mina, for not the first time that day, shook a friend by the shoulders. "You get all of that to yourself! So not fair!"

"Glad we could address the issue right off the bat." Tsuyu suddenly said, looking Mina in the eye.

"Wait," this caught Mina off guard, "what?!"

Tsuyu looked at the acid secretor with her usual blank stare as she stated the facts as she understood them. "You still like Izuku."

…

…

"…Pfft! Hah! Good one Tsu! I thought you had no sense of humor!" Mina wasn't fooling anyone, certainly not while she was sweating so profusely.

"I might not." Tsuyu's voice was steady and serious.

Mina knew she had been caught. She didn't want Tsuyu to be upset with her, but she couldn't lie. Tsuyu was a calm girl, she knew very well, but even she had a limit. Either way, the only thing she could do was fess up. "…Okay, fine! I like him! So what? _You're_ his girlfriend!"

"That's exactly what. You know very well he's off limits, yet you're still as touchy-feely with him as before. You may be a flirt, Mina, but even you have limits."

"I…" What was Mina supposed to say that wouldn't sound like she was throwing a pity party for herself (those were the worst kinds of parties). Stressed out immensely, she threw a fit. "I don't know what else to do! A boy I like is going out with my best friend ever! I thought I could get over it! I thought I could be happy for you two! But I'm just … so jealous!" Mina wasn't crying, but the tears threatened to break past her eyes.

"You don't have to be."

"*snort* Really?" Mina's sarcasm was entirely too palpable to be ignored. She didn't think Tsuyu had a real solution. Oh, if she only knew. "How?"

"You could be his girlfriend too."

"…"

Now _that_ got Mina to pause. Was she still speaking to Tsuyu, serious, level-headed, super-smart, frog-girl, super-cute, surprisingly-stacked, best-friend-in-the-whole-wide-world-she-could-ever-ask-for, Asui? She looked over this stranger in front of her. Big eyes: check. Teal hair tied like a bow: check. Tongue sticking slightly out of a large mouth with the cutest snout: check for tongue, check for mouth, and check for snout. Large hands: check. Slouched posture: check. Large… assets that were probably bigger than her own…dammit, Check!

"Wh-what?!" How could she believe that her best friend ever had come up with such an outrageous idea?! That was her job! "Tsuyu, are you feeling okay?

"I've given thought to this, Mina-chan." Tsuyu said. "I was glad Izuku looked me in the eye and said yes, even if it was shaky. But it didn't escape me that you were genuinely hurt that he did."

"So what?" Mina asked. "You won. He finally chose you over me."

"No, Mina. He was glad I like him, for sure, but _I_ was just the one who made the first move. I was surprised it was me being so bold. _You_ usually do that."

"I wanted him to choose." Mina explained. "I wanted him to make the move that would prove he liked me, so I didn't look ridiculous when he turned me down."

Made sense to Tsuyu. The alien-like girl had her pride; she needed to preserve it. But…

"As I said, I've thought about this. There's only one Izuku, and we can't change that. But… we can make the best of the Izuku we have."

"B-but Tsu, he's _your_ boyfriend! And if he's as good of one as he's been there's no way he'll … he'll… he's not gonna cheat on you like that!"

"Mina, you don't need to keep making excuses for yourself like that. We're walking towards a choice in career in which life is shorter than it already is for most people. We can't waste time on what-if's, but's, or maybe's. I don't want my best friend being heartbroken because she cared too much to give a slightly out-of-the ordinary relationship some thought, and then losing her life with that being her last regret." Mina hesitated to believe that even Tsuyu had thought that any of them could die. "Izuku took on a supervillain, Mina. He could have lost his life." They were both silent at that. "So I'm asking you, Mina-chan: do you want Izuku-chan to be your boyfriend too?"

"Absolutely." For the sake of confirming it out loud, Mina asked: "Sharing?"

"Sharing." The amphibian teen confirmed. And so, they promptly hugged and made up. They held the embrace for as long as they could allow.

"Besides," Tsuyu spoke in the embrace, "There are gonna be other girls in U.A. besides us, and I get the feeling things are going to get interesting when high school starts."

 **Mina Ashido**

 **Age: 15**

 **Gender: Female**

 **Height: 162 cm / 5' 3 3/4"**

 **Weight: 44 kgs. /98 lbs.**

 **Eyes: Yellow, black sclera**

 **Hair: Pink, curly**

 **Nationality: Japanese**

 **Date of Birth: July 30th**

 **Handedness: Right**

 **Blood Type: AB**

 **Likes: Natto and Okra, Dancing**

 **Dislikes: Bullies, academics**

 **Character Theme: Kesha - Blow**

 **Quirk: Acid - Mina can shoot out a corrosive liquid from within her body and can control the degree of solubility, as well as its viscosity. She can fire it from any part of her body, but primarily uses her hands. The more she uses it, the lower her resistance to it becomes.**

 **Costume: purple and turquoise camouflage skintight bodysuit, tan vest with white fur on collar white domino mask. The boots are custom made to allow her to secrete acid from her feet to slide around. On her arms are metal fingerless elbow-length gloves, which can spray the acid from her skin straight onto squirt guns over the knuckles of her gloves.**

 **Fighting Style: Medium-range support**

 _ **Skills:**_

 **Enhanced Reflexes: Mina has the best reflexes out of almost all people in Class 1-A.**

 **Dancing Talent: Mina is extremely skilled at dancing, being capable of pulling breakdance moves with little effort. She can also teach an amateur into becoming a decent dancer in little time.**

 **Skating talent: Mina can skate on her acid by minimizing it's solubility and slickening it up. Her avility to maintain her balance as she does this proves she has prior experience in skating, whether on roller blades or on ice.**

 _ **Special Moves:**_

 **Acid Veil:** **By maximizing her acid's solubility and viscosity, Mina creates a gelatinous acid wall that blocks incoming projectiles.**

 **Acid Mist: Mina releases her acid less in the manner of a faucet, and more like a spray bottle, letting it out in a cloud that acts as both a distraction, and an area-of-effect move.**

 **Acid Hose: Using her gauntlets, Mina sprays acid over a far greater range, hitting targets that would be maintaining or a distance than she could throw handfuls. She can substitute the gauntlets by shooting acid out of her palms and pressing them together to create pressure.**

 **Stats**

 **Power - 3 /5; C**

 **Speed - 4/5; B**

 **Technique - 5/5; A**

 **Intelligence - 2/5; D**

 **Cooperativeness - 5/5; A**


	6. Awkward Circumstances

**~Hey Guys! I'm Ba-aaaack!~**

 **Toshinori Yagi/ All Might – Garrick Lamont (American)**

 **Ochako Uraraka – Georgia Sherwood (American)**

 **kynan99** **: Your… welcome?**

 **MIKE202303** **: You know damn well who Garrick Lamont is! Did I not clarify a change of nationalities? Does nobody read the bold print anymore? WHY DO EVEN TRY?**

 **Shadow Joestar** **: Yeah, I knew the instant I thought about One for All and Izuku's friendships that Izuku couldn't keep it a secret from them. As for Tsu-chan, the hardest part of the chapter was getting her of all people to be okay with the harem, never mind coming up with the idea. But it worked out once I played the "live life to the fullest" card.**

 **Gwb620** **: …really?**

 **Chimchar14** **: Technically, it's one chapter split into two parts. If I'd left it whole, it would have been over 15,000 words, way bigger than is usually tolerable for most chapters. You're damn right he's too much for one! I was honestly tempted to make this a DekuBowl, but when I remembered my promise of future lemons, I opted out 'cuz I don't know nothin' 'bout that gay shit. I honestly felt like I was leaving out a vital part of Jukei's character by not showing his quirks in action, but I could never find the appropriate time for it. I couldn't show him beating up a bunch of toddlers, could I? That "OOC comment" was part of Izuku's more violent side which, as most fans know, was influenced by Katsuki as Izuku had viewed in him the embodiment of what a victor should be like. Izuku's utilization of his quirks will be elaborated on more once he enters U.A. proper. The rest of these questions are basically just imitating the closing statement of an old-timey Saturday Morning cartoon, aren't they?**

 **Temporal King (as a guest) :** **I agree. I don't exactly get the part about them being lovers with each other, though I can definitely see Mina being into that sort of thing. Everyone sees her as the class wild one, and there's nothing wrong with that. Please see my profile for information on my experience with Yuri.**

 **ToonyTheBoi: This isn't an answer to any particular review, but I am interested to hear your judgement of this chapter.**

 **Credit for beta reading goes to ToonyTheBoi (Unofficially, for now) and my Conshiro-Brobrasha,** **Conshiro-Krobrasha**

* * *

"It's super-nice to meet you." – normal speech

" _Where are you looking?!"_ – speaking with emphasis/ speaking in a flashback

 _Is he worried?_ – thinking/ flashback dialogue

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" - screaming

" _WE'RE A'LL GONNA DIE"_ – Screaming with emphasis

 **"Detroit Smash"** – special move

" **Hope has arrived! Because I am here!"** \- Buff All Might speaking, Intense Speaking

{READY? START} – Speaker phone speech (Present Mic, in other words)

Entry 83 – Read text being Displayed

* * *

 _ **July 4**_ _ **th**_ _ **, The Next Day**_

 _ **Tagoba**_

" **Red counter!"**

Izuku narrowly dodged another well-placed counterpunch after landing his foot snug in his sparring partner's hardened side. They had been doing this for about 12 minutes, after the green-haired inheritor suggested they work on combat-applied endurance. At some point in the past, Jukei had chided Eijiro for his obvious disadvantages in drawn-out fights and against opponents with range. Eijiro worked hardest on overcoming the damage he could deal and take before his Hardening ran out.

*Ding*

"Fifteen minutes!" Izuku declared. "Time's up. Good job, Eicchan! You're still really hard!"

"Please don't say it like that!" Eijiro pleaded, mortified.

Izuku blinked innocently. "Like what?"

"*Sigh* Never mind."

The two sat down together, and Izuku passed his redhead friend the water bottle.

"To think," the hardener said, taking a swig, "two weeks ago you wouldn't have pushed me that far that quick."

Izuku agreed wholeheartedly. He knew Eijiro's weaknesses and strengths, and he knew how to use them to his advantage, but now he had the means to become a terrifying threat in the physical sense. The greenette took this time to think about his Quirk, One for All, and the possible quirks it possessed. He could still only use 1%, but All Might said he would have to wait for all the quirks to assimilate with his body. There was no telling how long that would take. Fortunately, it gave Izuku the opportunity to make some interesting entries. He reached behind him and pulled out the most important of all his notebooks.

Hero Progress for the Future

Volume 1

Midoriya Izuku

It was in this journal took notes on the most important hero of all: the kind of hero Izuku Midoriya wanted to be. Costume ideas, equipment, special move names, strategies for certain categories of scenarios … it was all in there. It was an entire journal dedicated to his own progress.

Now it would include everything on his Quirk.

Quirk 1: One for All – Power stocking, power enhancement

Quirk 2: Power Spark – Minor energy absorption; Absorption limit per minute: to take in large doses leads to 3rd degree burns on area of body where user attempted to absorb energy. The user cannot project gathered energy. Absorption leads to short bursts of strength.

Quirk 3: Omni linguist – Language Assimilation

Quirk 4: Unknown

Quirk 5: Unknown

Quirk 6: Unknown

Quirk 7: Unknown

Quirk 8: Unknown

Quirk 9: Unknown

Well, it was a start. Izuku had discovered the third Quirk that morning when he realized he could read an article in Indian, after he'd been staring at it for about 5 minutes out of sheer boredom. He could also speak in other languages fluently, which he learned when he was doing English homework, had begun muttering what he was reading, and heard English speech just _flow_ from his lips. It … had its uses, definitely if he was going global with his hero career.

"Another one?" Eijiro said from beside his best friend. "Didn't you just finish your 15th journal already?"

Izuku could not stop himself from scoffing at the insinuation. "I'm just starting my 12th, and this one is separate to keep track of my growth as a hero."

"Only 12?" Eijiro questioned. "I thought you documented _all_ the heroes you thought were impressive!"

"I know an unreliable source when I see one. Not all of my entries are even heroes. Some villains succeed because most heroes don't bother with the tactics they use."

"Ouch." He could have sworn Izuku had been impressed with more heroes if his research was on heroes from around the world. If he decided they weren't worth the effort… they weren't. His judgement was highly valued between their little group.

"Oi, Deku? Shitty hair?"

Izuku and Eijiro stood up and turned to look behind them. "Kacchan? What are you doing here?"

"The fuck _you_ think, nerd?! I still got time to train before U.A.! I wanna make sure I get as much training as possible so I can be more and more ready to crush everyone else."

"Figures." Izuku muttered.

"Now," Katsuki lifted his chin, "how 'bout you get the fuck outta my way before I blast you and shitty hair here into vanilla paste."

* * *

A young lady was making her way towards Tagoba Municipal Beach to see if it could serve as a possible training ground. Her parents had paid a lot of what they had to ensure she could make the trip to Japan and take care of herself until it was time for the U.A. Entrance exam, and she needed to use the time she had to get ready. Her brown eyes scanned the beach entrance, and she made her way through to the seaside to see three boys of about her age having some sort of conversation. She decided to walk up and introduce herself, see if she couldn't make some new friends while she was here.

* * *

Izuku made his own suggestion. "How about you just go to a different section of the beach, since there's plenty of space for everyone?"

Katsuki expressed his displeasure for this idea. "Fuck you, I'll train where I want, and I want to train here. Now get lost before I make you my personal dummies!"

"Um, excuse me?"

The 3 of them turned to address the newcomer. She was a petite girl with Brown eyes and bob-cut hair of a matching color. Her cheeks were chubby and rosy, and she had a small button nose. Her skin was fair, and she had light brown pads on her hands. She was wearing a simple grey jacket over a pink jacket, with grey shorts, and was holding a brown school bag. They could tell she was foreign, likely American.

"Do you… do any of you know… if this beach is … occupied often?" She was also struggling with her Japanese a bit. Izuku decided to see if his third quirk would serve him. He had already been studying English; he just wanted to see if she reacted to his voice at all.

"You know, I know English." He said, in a very fluent display of his skill in the language. "You don't have to force yourself if you're having trouble."

The girl's face lit up in relief, and Izuku couldn't deny he found the expression to be more than just a little cute, but he had a girlfriend, so he forbade himself from saying it.

"Oh, thank you! I've been trying to learn Japanese to be ready for when I came here, but I've only been learning for about four months."

"It's no big deal." The greenette reassured her "If I may ask, what did you come to Japan for?"

"I'm going to U.A. High next year." She responded "I heard the first semester starts in February, so I wanted to be in Japan as soon as possible."

"Woah! Really? Us too!" Izuku said. Suddenly, he remembered her question from the beginning. "Oh! You asked if a lot of people usually came by here. For the most part, it's just us and a handful of other people, but we come here to train because we're the only ones."

Suddenly, Katsuki found it disgusting to be standing where he stood. "Fuck it, Deku." He said, in English as well (probably to let the girl know what was going on). "I'll go further down. You and your gang of side characters can do whatever the fuck you want." With that, he stomped down the beach, making certain to put as much distance between himself and the extras as possible.

As the group looked on as he left, the girl realized something. "Ah! I forgot to introduce myself!" She bowed. "I'm Georgia Sherwood."

Eijiro grinned, speaking in English himself. "Nice to meet ya. I'm Eijiro Kirishima." Izuku discovered out of all topics, his Hardening friend was gifted in language arts. It stemmed from his natural friendly attitude. He loved to interact with others, and if another language was the answer, he would be more than willing to learn.

Georgia got up from her bow. "Nice to meet you too, Eijiro." She turned to Izuku. "Wait! Let me guess! You're ... Deku, right?"

"… Actually," Izuku said, glaring at a suspicious explosion far off in the distance, in the direction where his volatile rival had gone off, "that's just what _Kacchan_ calls me." It was probably childish of him, but he hoped it would get on Katsuki's nerves that other people would be calling him that for the first time in a while. He didn't react when Izuku did it anymore, so he had just assumed the bomber had built up an immunity to _him_ saying it specifically. He then stopped glaring and turned to the girl with a smile. "My name's Izuku Midoriya. Deku is just the alternate reading for my given name. It means 'someone who can't do anything.'"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Georgia Said. "But you know, it sounds like 'you can do it.' Plus, I think it's kinda cute."

Izuku raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing about his lips. "Are you trying to charm me into calling me whatever you want?" He turned to Eijiro. "Hey, Eicchan, I think this cute girl's trying to sweet talk me into doing whatever she wants with me."

Eijiro saw what his bro was doing. He grinned. "Uh-oh, bro, you better watch out. She might get ya when you're not lookin'."

Georgia blushed furiously at this, making every attempt to refute such a claim. "Wh-wh-wh-…" She was less than successful. "Wh-wh-wh-what're yew two gittin' at?! I ain't tryna flirt with no dumb boys! Ah j-just thought…"

Meanwhile, Izuku was getting very tempted to let this girl call him what she wanted. She was cute, and unbelievably charming. So he decided to cope by teasing her; for his own health. He did _not_ want to face Tsuyu's wrath just because she thought he might be smitten with another girl he had just met (the years when they were younger did _not_ count, he would remind his friends pointedly).

The girl ended up trailing off, not really sure how to defend herself on this one. Fortunately for her, Izuku was not Mina. He had mercy. "*Chuckle* It's okay, it just caught me off guard that you were so insistent on it." The American girl let out a sigh of relief at that, though privately, she was grateful this boy might think she was cute, for some reason. "In all seriousness, you're thinking of _dekiru_. They sound similar, but they're complete opposites."

"Oh…" For a moment, Georgia had a blank expression on, and then she suddenly smiled brightly at him. "Well I like that one better then!"

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I don't want to force a name on you that you probably don't like for personal reasons. And don't get me wrong, your real name sounds awesome to, but if you wanna be friends, I wouldn't mind having a nickname to call you." She didn't know why she was going so far as to give this boy a nickname. He seemed okay (and his smile was incredibly radiant, (not that she had the courage to say that out loud) but she didn't usually give nicknames, even to her closest friends, without having really known them. This boy though ... it just seemed right.

Izuku looked at her blankly for a moment before smiling at her (again, radiant) As he responded. "Well I certainly can't turn down a nickname like that, certainly not with the way you put it. Dekiru it is!"

She felt a bit of relief that he allowed it.

"But if I'm gonna have a nickname, I should have one for you too." He put a finger to his lip in thought for a moment, before he came to a decision. "Ah! How about Uraraka?" She blinked cutely in confusion. "It's Japanese for bright, as in sunny. I think it would really suit you."

Okay forget what she said earlier. This boy was more than okay: he was amazing! "O-o-o-o-o-kay… Awright then, ah guess ah can try it." Was her face heating up? Her face felt _really_ heated up.

"But!" He pointed a finger at her direction, "When you refer to me when talking to others, it's Izuku. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea."

That made sense to her. After all, she had just made that very mistake. "O-okay."

"Say, Sherwood-san," Izuku offered, "Since you're new to Japan, my friend and I could give you a tour of the locale."

Georgia thought that would be an excellent idea, especially since she'd get to learn more about her new friend, and his redheaded friend right next to him. "That would be swell."

"Well then," he made his way out of the beach, then stopped and turned to look back at her, "Shall we, _Uraraka_ -san?"

With that, and a fair bit more of pretty blushing, the two of them walked off to take a look at the local area. Eijiro was still standing on the beach looking on as the two of them walked off (rather closely, in his opinion), standing a little dumbfounded.

"What… what just… happened?

He then made to catch up with the pair of them. As he stood behind them, he really hoped he was misreading the situation. His bro Izuku was a great guy, make no mistake, but he was already in a pretty committed relationship – for their age group, at least. It didn't surprise him that he was really good at making friends, damn the situation. But right now…

 _He's acting a little too close to this girl, who he's just met._

* * *

Tsuyu was walking through the city, headed for the Midoriya residence. Normally she would be heading towards Tagoba to see who she was looking for, but at this hour he was likely home, or on his way there. She had been preparing a special something for her green-haired boyfriend, and now all she had to do was extend an invitation. Kirishima had even agreed to distract Izuku for the day with hours of "bro-on-bro" practice, obviously not her own words, Fumikage agreed to invite the others outside their group, and Mina was Mina, except extremely apprehensive. If nothing pulled the rug out from underneath her feet, it would all go smoothly. She and Mina were the only ones who knew anything about the real motives behind this affair, aside from celebrating another year of Izuku's existence.

She just hoped nobody ended up getting hurt.

As she made her way down the street, she saw a familiar bush of curly green hair, with a rock of spiky red behind it and… brown? They were heading in her direction, and when she got a clear view of them, she saw Izuku pointing to various sites around the area, a girl looking at them in fascination, and Eijiro simply smiling on as he watched them get along. Upon paying more attention to the girl, she noticed she was foreign, judging by her eye shape and skin tone. Ah, Izuku was just showing a girl, an incredibly cute one at that, around a place she was obviously unfamiliar with. That was all. He certainly wasn't cheating on her before she even said it was technically okay with her. No, not at all. Also, why was she so close to him? The only girl who got so close to him besides her was Mina. Kami, being possessive sucked.

"Ah, Tsucchan!" Oh, he noticed her. He didn't seem nervous. Okay, good, he wasn't cheating. He quickly made her way towards her, clearly happy to see her. That was all the confirmation she needed, but the embrace and kiss on the forehead certainly helped. "I'm glad to see you. I met someone I think you'd like to meet." He turned to the girl, who was looking a little surprised by the display of affection. "Ms. Sherwood," he spoke in English, "This is Asui Tsuyu, my girlfriend. Tsu-chan, this is Georgia Sherwood, an American exchange student. She'll be going to U.A. the same as us."

"Is that so?" Moving out of the now half-embrace, she bowed before the new girl, who seemed distraught. Probably at finding out Izuku had a girlfriend. _We're not even_ in _high school yet,_ she thought, _and things are already getting interesting._ "Hajimemashite, Sherwood-chan. I'm Tsuyu Asui."

The brown-haired girl seemed to be in a bit of a trance before smiling and bowing back. "Hajimemashite, Asui-san. I hope we can get along."

Returning to her normal un-bowed position, Tsuyu smiled. "You said you were going to apply for U.A.? What can you do with your Quirk?"

The brunette seemed more than happy to answer. "My Quirk is Zero Gravity. I can touch an object and take away it's gravity." She lifted up one hand, showing brown pads on each of her fingers. "But I have to touch it with all the fingers of one of my hands. And I get nauseous if I lift too much."

Izuku was certainly fascinated with such a quirk. It wasn't unlike telekinetic levitation, except she didn't have to focus on the object or objects she was lifting. How much could she lift exactly before she hit a limit? How long could she lift said amount? Was it a matter of simply making the object float, or did she negate the weight, as she could also make objects heavier? The possibilities were endless. She could most obviously toss weighted rubble for combat and free civilians from it for rescue, as well as move said civilians across dangerously long and deep gaps. There was a very good chance she could also float herself if all she needed was to touch the object with five fingers, not to mention it could actually be very deadly…

"Izuku-kun?"

Izuku was suddenly pulled from his very deep thoughts by Georgia catching his attention with her friendly voice. When he looked to his friends, he saw a fond look of amusement on Eijiro, a look on Georgia that said she was more than a little taken aback, and Tsuyu was looking at him with a look that only he would recognize as exasperation. "Izu-chan," she said, "didn't you already do that when you asked her about her Quirk?"

Georgia looked confused at this. "He didn't ask about my Quirk."

Tsuyu looked at this girl, then to Eijiro, who rapidly nodded in confirmation, then she looked back to Georgia, who simply blinked, and then to Izuku, who rolled his eyes. "Who are you and what have you done with my Izu-chan?" Tsuyu demanded, sounding serious. "You met a person with a Quirk and didn't ask them about it?"

Eijiro snickered at this, and Izuku rolled his eyes again, with greater emphasis this time. "A person is not their quirk, Tsuyu. I know that better than anyone."

"Eh? What do you mean, Izuku-kun?" Georgia inquired.

Izuku suddenly remembered that they were not alone, and that there was a person who had no idea what his quirk was, or if he even had one. Panicking internally but simply turning to the girl in question, he quickly worked to rectify his slip-up. "*Ahem* You see, Sherwood-san…Since my Quirk activated very late, and there was a trigger related to it which I never thought to use, I grew up officially Quirkless." It was a good explanation, and it wasn't too far-fetched. He had been able to use it to explain to the Quirk Registry Office why his quirk had come late; by claiming it was always there, but he had no way to activate it, and thus had not known it was even there.

"Oh!" The brown-eyed girl looked at him in fascination. "How long have you had your quirk?"

Ah, now that was something he could tell truthfully "About a month. It's a good thing I did so much physical training before I even got it, or I likely wouldn't even be able to use it."

Georgia's eyes had travelled to Izuku's arms at this point, and she couldn't help but notice just how buff they were. She blushed slightly, and decided to switch to a new topic as distraction. "So what's your quirk?"

Izuku slightly panicked at this. He hadn't found the time to make up a proper backstory for his quirk, apart from the bit about the trigger, but as was his specialty, he had come up with a solution on the fly. "Well, Sherwood-san, my quirk is a bit unique." He explained. "It's a sort of energy source that I use to increase my strength, speed, and durability by leaps and bounds, but I can only use a fraction of it at a time without the necessary physical training. And if I over enhance, it can lead to me straining my body to the point of bones breaking, I think." He hadn't actually reached that point yet, but he hoped he didn't have to.

"Oh, wow!" Georgia looked on in awe. "That's so cool. There are a lot of enhancement Quirks like that, but they're always so cool to see! But you break your arms if you use too much power? That's gotta suck!"

Izuku was finding it adorable that this girl was fussing over him, even though they had just met. Even so, he still had to reassure her. "Hey, don't worry. That's just what the doctors speculated would happen based on their tests. I'm not exactly eager to test it out."

Georgia breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, that makes sense."

Then Tsuyu remembered why she was here to begin with. "Izuku-chan." The addressed turned to her attentively. "I wanted to tell you: be at the beach tomorrow at 3. Try to steer clear of it until then. It's a surprise. And bring standard beach gear." From behind him, Eijiro grinned conspiratorially. Personally, part of the reason Tsuyu was so blunt was because she did not like surprising people, nor did she like to be surprised. But for this occasion, she could bear it, both for Mina's sake, and Izuku's. Just because she didn't like surprises didn't mean she wasn't capable of them, though. She was certain she had given just the right amount of information that Izuku would be there, but not enough that he would have any idea what was going on. Or he would respect the nature of the surprise. He was too smart to not be even the slightest bit inquisitive. That was just one of the things she … liked about him.

Tsuyu did not doubt her affections for her Izuku for a moment. She had known him since they had dedicated themselves to goals that they should have been too young to understand the magnitude of. She knew him better than easily anyone, barring his own mother and father. She knew the different warmths of his many smiles, from his comforting grin to his look of elation. She knew he loved algebra and had learned to deal with history. She knew his curls were natural as she liked to run her hands through his fluffy locks. She knew very well that he knew the likes and dislikes of their group's respective members; not even from note-taking, he just wanted to remember something about them, because regardless of what he might be to them, they were his precious friends, and he wanted to respect them as such.

And she knew very well that she held a special place in his heart, and her in his. She just wasn't ready to say it, plain and simple.

It was frustrating, especially since such unsureness was so unlike her. Even so, it was likely that such hesitance was because of Mina. The girl hadn't even gotten a chance to tell Izuku how she felt, so if Tsuyu said it, she might end up capturing all of his attention. That wouldn't be fair to her. Funny, Tsuyu thought. She'd been someone who tried not to let emotions affect her decisions. Being friends with Izuku had certainly let him rub off on her. And now she was his girlfriend.

Izuku smiled. "Okay, Tsucchan. I'll be there, and I'll make sure not to spoil the surprise." Well, he knew it was a surprise. Not too surprising. From beside them, Georgia looked on curiously.

She decided to see if the girl would try to take things further with Izuku, despite knowing he was taken. It was clear she was disappointed to find that a boy she had just met had a girlfriend. Tsuyu wanted to see if she liked Izuku to the same extent she did. With that in mind, she turned to her new friend. "Georgia-chan, you can come too, if you'd like."

The Southern girl's face lit up into a smile. "Oh? I'd love too! What are you guys gonna be doing?"

In response to this, Tsuyu turned to Izuku with a look that said he needed to go. He got the message, thankfully. He made up an excuse:

"Well, I'd love to continue our little tour, Sherwood-san, but my mom is going to be expecting me home soon, so … maybe my friends could take you on the rest of the tour?"

Eijiro chimed in. "Actually, I gotta go too. My old man's expecting me back soon today. He wants to… test out the results of my training for himself."

"Well," Izuku said, "I'll see you guys tomorrow. By, Sherwood-san. I hope to see you again."

"Call me Georgia." She insisted, flushing again. "And I hope to see you again too, Izuku-kun."

"Okay then, Georgia." Ad with that, he jogged off.

"Alrighty," Eijiro decided, "my work here is done."

"You didn't do anything." Tsuyu pointed out.

"Goodbye." And with that, Eijiro walked off.

And so there stood Tsuyu and Georgia, watching the boys walk off. With that out of the way, Tsuyu turned to Georgia and looked up at her (she was a fair bit taller than herself) and so promptly addressed to her the subject that was not yet privy to her boyfriend. "So, Georgia, to answer your question, Izuku's fifteenth birthday is coming up in eleven days, but we've decided to celebrate it early, just because." That wasn't really true. She and Mina had decided that if Mina was going to confess to Izuku, she should do it as soon as possible. Celebrating Izuku's next birthday was the perfect excuse. But Georgia was clearly already a bit disheartened by hearing a boy she had just met was already taken. She didn't need to make it worse by telling her another girl was going to be taking a shot at sharing him, not until she was certain she liked him to the right extent. Tsuyu then smiled, as best as she could show it. "I would like it very much if you celebrated it with us. The reason it's a surprise is because it's a beach party."

Now _that_ got Georgia's attention, if she didn't have it before. The girl was blushing furiously, clearly a little uncomfortable with the idea of being in a swimsuit in front of Izuku. Or was it Izuku being in a swimsuit? She wasn't exactly opposed to the idea, obviously. If nothing else, this would give her a chance to catch Izuku's attention. Georgia was not a shallow girl, but for some reason, she just wanted to see if this boy liked her, even if he was already with another girl. It was with this idea in mind that she answered rather shakily. "Uuuuhhhh, I… g-g-guess…" wiping all hesitance away, she smiled brightly, blushing with equal brightness. "I would absolutely love too!"

 _Kawaii._ Tsuyu thought. If nothing else, she was making new friends. That had to count for something. "Well then, in the meantime, why don't we finish your tour of the city? And maybe we could find a cute swimsuit for tomorrow."

"Sure!" Georgia chirped. "Say what's your Quirk? It seems to make you look different from other people. No offense! You actually look really cute!"

Tsuyu understood the completely. They needed something to talk about. As they started down the street, Tsuyu began to tell the girl about herself. "My Quirk basically lets me do…"

* * *

"I'm home!"

Izuku came through the front door feeling oddly giddy after his day. What was the cause of this, he wondered. All he did was do some more training at the beach, run into Kacchan, meet a nice girl and give said girl a walk through the city and introduce her to his girlfriend. Oh well.

"Welcome home, sweetie. How was your day?" When he got a look at his mother, her look was … apprehensive?

"I met someone today mom." the son said smiling. "She's gonna be applying for U.A. the same as us. I decided to give her a tour of the local area." Was it just him, or did she appear even more apprehensive? "Oh, and I thought you should know, I'm gonna be meeting with Tsuyu at 3 tomorrow."

"Ah, yes. She told me a bit about that. Thank you for telling me personally, though."

"Thanks mom." He moved towards his room. "I'm just going to be doing some weekend studying and maybe rest my eyes some. Call me if you need anything."

A hum of acknowledgement was his only confirmation that she was listening before he disappeared around the corner. What he didn't know was that his mother was still reeling from the conversation he'd had with her son's friends Mina and Tsuyu. She could still hear the conversation being held, word for word.

 _Inko had just managed to keep her voice to a whisper-yell, avoiding outright yelling. "You're going to both date my son?!"_

 _Mina and Tsuyu were both bowed in front of her, having asked permission to both court her son. As they had expected, her reaction was a little less than what they would have liked._

 _Bowed in front of her, Tsuyu did her best to placate the Midoriya Matriarch. "We're asking your permission, Midoriya-san. We wouldn't even be considering it if we thought you would have a problem with it."_

 _Mina decided to add in her two cents. "Ms. Midoriya – no, Inko – I know that this seems like a crazy idea, maybe just plain bad, but even if I kept it to myself that I liked him, he'd figure out something was off eventually. He's known us long enough."_

 _Inko was almost dumbstruck, but her expression was thoughtful, concerned, and just plain Inko. "But… I just can help but… I mean, I don't even know this even came up."_

 _Tsuyu decided to elaborate as the two raised themselves up from bowing. "Inko-san, I know you already know this, but we're walking down a dangerous path. Our lives will be too short for making decisions about the normal way to do things."_

 _Inko supposed she could understand that logic from their point of view, if she rationalized it the way they probably were._

" _Besides," Tsuyu said, ever blunt, "and this is not meant as any offense to either of you, but your son is crazy. He couldn't stop himself from moving in against a villain who could have easily crushed the pros who failed to do anything to even slow him down. A normal_ adult _wouldn't even try to take on a threat like that, much less actually win."_

 _Inko was full-on shocked by this declaration. But after taking a few deep, calming breaths, and thinking about it for a moment, she realized, that perhaps Tsuyu was right. Her son had absolutely terrified her, and knowing he wasn't aware of her seeing it didn't exactly help. It did even less to help that the person he was trying to save had made countless attempts to torment him, even after they had moved away from the neighborhood. How was she supposed to make sure her baby was okay, when he was going into a profession she didn't have a hope in? Having someone else to care certainly helped, but…_

 _But nothing. This was practically what the doctor would order._

 _Tsuyu sighed. "I must be crazier though. Because even knowing how crazy he is, I still like him. But there is no way I can deal with all that crazy by myself. If I tried, I'd grow grey hairs before I hit twenty. Fortunately, Mina is more than willing to share the load."_

 _Mina looked a little indignant that her friend had just implied that something they were looking forward too was going to be a workload, but decided to remain silent. For now. She decided she could at least cut in. "So ... Inko…" she looked up to Inko, looking hopeful, "will you let us both date your son, pretty please?"_

 _For a moment, Inko's expression was completely unreadable. Then, slowly but surely, her face stretched into a sunshine grin that threatened to split her face open._

Inko's current expression fit in exactly with that of her last expression in that conversation. She was absolutely ecstatic! Her and Hisashi's dream was finally making its way into the light!

"We're gonna have so many grandbabies!" She squealed in delight.

Meanwhile, in Izuku's bedroom, as he was updating his hero journal, he couldn't help but wonder what his mother was squealing about. But regardless, he was glad she was so happy.

* * *

 _ **July 5**_ _ **th**_

 _ **Tagoba Beach, 3:00 pm**_

Izuku was almost at the beach, a small drawstring bag in one hand. Well, this was it, he thought. Time to see what Tsuyu had planned for him. It was rare, he thought, that Tsuyu surprised any of them. She was always so straightforward, it was hard to not know what to expect with her unless she said nothing at all. When she became friends with Mina and Eijiro, she learned how to be a little more sociable. He would admit he was absolutely grateful to the pink girl and the redhead that Tsuyu could be a little less blunt, and a little more fun. It wasn't that he didn't like her like that, oh no! Otherwise she wouldn't really be Tsucchan if she didn't have that going for her! But it would help her make friends a lot better, in _addition_ to her straightforward behavior. He was grateful in particular to Mina for bringing out her hidden fun side.

Mina…

Eight months. It had been more than eight months since the day Tsucchan had told him how she had felt, and had made the bold move of asking him out. It was also the exact same day he had been contemplating his relationship with his female companions. He had been wondering how he'd felt about either of them, and suddenly one of them had come clean about how they felt. That was great, fantastic really, but…

He had only ever sorted out half the problem.

Did he like Tsucchan? Absolutely. Was he glad to be going out with her? Without a doubt! Did it make him feel any less confused about how he felt about Micchan?

*Pfft* If only.

No matter what happened, Micchan would always be near and dear to him. She would always be his precious, energetic, super-sociable friend of his who was practically everyone's cheerleader. She was also kind, tenacious, cute, had a killer smile, and he really shouldn't be having these thoughts about her. He was dating Tsuyu!

That didn't mean his feelings had dampened any less. Did that make him a bad person? He didn't know. Who was he supposed to talk to about this? Tsuyu would outright smack him. His mother might pass out or tell him to try and let go of these feelings and try his luck with Tsuyu until it stopped working out, which was utterly out of the question. Fumikage would have no idea what to do. Eijiro would only be perplexed, no matter what small offer of help he made. It was doubtful he could talk to All Might about this. Jukei-sensei would tell him to date them b-…

Yeah, no.

For now, he'd have to stay the course and be content that he had found a relationship with Tsucchan. With that in mind, he strode forward towards his destination.

Upon arriving to the beach, what he saw caught him off guard. His friends and his sensei were all there, wearing t-shirts and shorts over swim wear, but they weren't the only ones. Georgia was there, talking to Mina, and his mother was there too. They were surrounded by towels and umbrellas and… food? Were they throwing a party? But there was someone else there. Someone he was actually very excited to see.

"Izuku?"

Surprised out of his reverie, Izuku quickly turned around and got into a fighting stance on reflex. But when he registered the appearance of the person addressing him, he immediately loosened up.

"Kendo-san?"

The individual in question was a young woman of the same age range as Izuku himself, who had orange hair and teal eyes with white irises (not even that strange compared to the things that inhabited their world), standing 5' 5 ¼" in a pair of grey track pants and a gym shirt. She was carrying a drawstring bag and looking at him with a look of slight surprise, which was mirrored by Izuku's own, and then replaced with a look of fond exasperation. "For the 82nd time, Izuku, I told you, you can call me Itsuka."

Izuku responded with a small smile. "And I told _you_ , for the 53rd time _,_ it feels too informal."

"Come on, we're friends aren't we?"

Izuku sighed. "Fine. But first, if you're gonna be my friend, you should at least meet my other friends. They're here now, for some reason."

"Yeah, they actually invited me here." The teal-eyed girl responded, surprising the other teen. "They didn't say too much, just to meet them here, and that you'd be here."

Well, that was just great. They invite a friend of his here without having gotten the chance to be properly introduced to her, and they didn't even tell _her_ anything? Oh well, he was about to find out anyway. "They didn't tell me too much either. C'mon, let's go find out what the big surprise is." With that, the two walked off towards the seaside commotion.

Upon arriving, everyone stopped and turned to look at the two new arrivals. Suddenly, several pops and shots of confetti went off.

" _Happy Birthday, Izuku!"_

The addressed individual could only respond by jumping up a moment, before standing there gaping in shock. Beside him, Itsuka wore a shocked expression, before it slowly spread into a grin. She might as well join the chorus. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Happy B-day, dude."

Izuku didn't know what to say. Technically his actual date of birth wasn't in 10 more days, but… he was still grateful that they'd gone to the trouble. He smiled gratefully. "You guys…"

Then, out of the small crowd, Tsuyu stepped forward, a smile on her non-existent lips. "I wanted to surprise you." She said simply. "You've been working so hard, I wanted to be sure you had time to celebrate turning fifteen, even if it was a bit early."

He beamed at her, before pulling her into an embrace. "Arigatou, Tsucchan. I'm glad you decided to do this for me."

Pulling away from the hug, Tsuyu turned to look at the girl who had arrived with him. "So you're Kendo Itsuka-chan."

The girl in question was a little surprised. This girl was really perceptive. And she had apparently been invited to a party for a friend she hadn't exactly met the other friends. But looking at the collected expression on the considerably shorter girls face, she could see that this was clearly an offered chance to get to know them better. "Yep." She responded.

Izuku decided introductions were in order. "Everyone, this is Kendo Itsuka. She's…"

"Hey," Ejirio piped up, "I know you! You're that girl that beat my bro in that martial arts tournament!"

Izuku really wished Eijiro would just keep his mouth shut. Jukei snickered. "*Huff* Yes… this is her. As I was just saying, we met back when I was twelve…"

* * *

 _Izuku panted for breath as he lay on the mat, covered in bruises. His opponent for the quarter finals was not too much better, just enough that she was still standing, and thus had been declared the winner. He was so close! All it would have taken was this and two more matches, and he would have finally won! Picking himself up off the ground, with several grunts of pain, he slowly walked away from the stage, his steps small, and his head hanging. Suddenly, he felt a light grip on his shoulder, and he turned to see his previous opponent looking at him with… worry? "Hey you okay?" She asked in a concerned tone. "I would understand if you were just a little upset about the match, but you look like you had something riding on it."_

 _Itsuka was worried she might have done more damage than just physical to her opponent for the semi-finals. She doubted she had hurt any ego, since he did not a bit of boasting since this tournament had begun, but from the way he was acting after losing, it had to be important to him._

 _Izuku sighed. "Have you ever wanted something so bad you'd do literally whatever it took to get it?"_

 _The strawberry blonde pause, before answering. "Not really."_

 _Izuku clarified. "I want to be a hero. I entered this tournament to test the limits of what I could do against criminals as I am now."_

 _Now Itsuka could help him somehow. "Hey, me too! If it makes you feel any better, you didn't exactly go down easy back there. And I'm sure you must have a pretty effective Quirk." Upon seeing his even further downtrodden expression, she realized she had hit a sore spot. She just didn't know how sore. "Oooohhhh. Sorry. Is it not that useful?"_

 _Izuku didn't mean for his tone to sound biting, but it still did. "If I had a weak Quirk, at least I'd be able to make it stronger!"_

 _Itsuka's eyes widened and she took a small step back in surprise. "… You're Quirkless?"_

 _Izuku didn't really care if he ended up crying at some point. He couldn't just leave his frustrations buried. He was already familiar with how that played out. "Yes! I don't have any powers! Nothing about myself that I can say is really special. I can't fly, I can shoot beams of any kind, and I can't make shields to protect dozens of people at once! I'm too weak!"_

 _Itsuka was shocked. She figured she could finally understand why being such an expert hand-to hand fighter was so important to him now. As if to confirm her thoughts, he continued._

" _That's why it was important that I win this tournament all the way. I had to prove I could be strong, without needing any quirk. I needed to show that if I don't have a quirk, I at least have talent."_

 _Itsuka had realized his plight now. He hadn't made it far enough. Being a hero without a quirk? It sounded far-fetched, to be sure, it was definitely heard of ... but the idea caught her interest. He was aiming for the stars, but he had just been denied. Saying she had an unimpressive quirk wouldn't help, he'd probably say she was just being ungrateful, and he'd be right. He didn't even have a_ weak _quirk. At least she could do something with hers, if not much. And at the cost of her own victory, she had denied him hope. What could she really do?_

" _But I'm not gonna give up." He said, surprising her. "I may be behind. But that just means I have to work harder. So I'll keep going, even if it takes all the time I've got." He then turned to Itsuka and, surprising her, bowed from the waist down. "So, thank you for showing me my weaknesses, ma'am. I'll be better prepared the next time."_

 _She was struck. She had thought for a moment he was giving up, but here he was still marching forward. She smiled. "My name is Itsuka. Kendo Itsuka."_

 _Getting up from his bow, Izuku smiled. "Nice to meet you, Kendo-san. My name is Midoriya Izuku." He responded. "Try to win this tournament so I at least lost to the champion." He said seriously._

 _Itsuka turned pink slightly. "Okay, I'll try."_

 _As it turned out, his faith in her was well-placed. She took first in the tournament, with the silver going to some kid with a thick tail and the bronze going to a boy with birch-green hair and eyes that appeared to have spiraled eyes of red and green._

 _Later, after the tournament, Itsuka, got an Idea. Taking a small slip of paper and a pen, she wrote down, and then rushed to find her ex-opponent. As luck would have it, he was just on his way out, walking with a woman who could only be his mother. "Midoriya!" The addressed turned around, just as she made her way to him. She handed the paper out to him. When he took it, he looked at it, too see it had her name, and contact information. He looked back at her, wide-eyed. "Let's keep in touch." With that, she rushed past, leaving a boy with a mother covering her smile, and slightly pink cheeks._

* * *

"Since then," Izuku finished, "we'd been keeping in contact, but this is the first time we've met face to face."

"Kendo-san, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend Asui Tsuyu," he pointed to his mother, "my Mom," he then turned to his friends, naming them left to right, "Kirishima Eijiro, Ashido Mina, Tokoyami Fumikage," He then turned to his teachers, "And this is my sensei, Ikinuku Jukei, and this is my recent teacher, Mr. Garrick Lamont. And this…" he turned to the last individual, who he'd recognized last as the one he was excited to see. "Is August Niels."

The individual was a senior teenager, Canadian and fair-skinned, with pale green eyes and a dangling single earring on his right ear that was composed three chain-linked diamonds that made an almost-silent jingle with every little movement. His hair was jet black, tipped by the same shade of green as his eyes. He had a lithe, fit build, and, most noticeably, had a black lizard tail about five feet long, which casually swung below his waist. He was dressed in khaki pants and a t-shirt that depicted some sort of monster with an oval body, blue fur, and several eyes. He looked at Itsuka with a nonchalant grin, and held out his hand. "It's great to meet you in person, Ms. Kendo." He spoke in a voice that reminded her of Nathan Sharp.

"He's a Junior at U.A. High." Izuku explained.

"So you're our senpai?" Itsuka inquired.

"If you wanna go with that." The apparent upperclassman said, not having a preference.

"So how did you meet Izuku?" She wasn't the only one. Everyone but Izuku's little group was curious.

The two of them paused for a moment, thinking about how they had just met. In fact, August had happened across Izuku as he was being attacked by Katsuki and his cronies.

 _An Eleven year old Izuku and a fifteen year old August were sitting on the side of the street, the former with bruises._

" _I know you had that handled, but it just wouldn't have sat right with me to stand idly by."_

" _It's okay." Izuku reassured his elder. "I wouldn't have really been able to win anyway."_

 _August wasn't sure what to say to that, except possibly … "But it was pretty heroic of you, fighting against odds like that. That's what you told them what you were going to do, right? Even though you're quirkless?"_

 _Izuku knew there wasn't any bite behind the statement. If anything, he had likely caught the teen's interest. For some reason it felt like a good thing, a_ beneficial _thing. It only spurred on his answer._

" _Yes." He said firmly. "I want to be someone everyone around me can look up to, and make feel safe, because I could do that just by being there"_

 _To August, this aspiring kid's future self sounded like someone very similar to someone who existed. I was no secret why he was the world's number one hero. He may not have actually had the greatest current arrest record, but that was the power he displayed had sent crime rates dropping because_ he made people afraid to commit crimes _. And his sheer presence was enough to ensure everyone, civilian and hero alike, because of that. Finding someone who actively wanted to give off the same effect…_

" _Izuku Midoriya…" He turned to the boy. And as the boy turned to face him, he smiled. "I look forward to seeing you succeed."_

"We kept in touch afterwards." August finished. "I met his other friends not too long after, and I even ended up 'tutoring' them in what I've learned about heroics."

Suddenly, the sound of sniffling broke them out of their reminiscing. Everyone turned to the source of the sound, and Izuku felt his heart in his stomach at the sight of his mother holding her hands over her mouth, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Mom?" He spoke softly, walking up to her at a sedate pace. "Are you okay?" As soon as he was within arm's reach of her thought, he found himself in an embrace with his mother, who was hugging him with strength that she should not possess.

"My baby boy," she whispered, so low only he could hear her clearly, "has so many friends." She loosened her grip enough that he could move, and then held him at arm's length. "I'm so proud of you, Izuku. No matter what, I just want you to know how proud I am." No matter how much he grew up, he'd always be her sweet little boy. Nothing would change that.

"Thank you, Mom." He really didn't know what else to say, his eyes glistening with tears. "I can't tell you how lucky how blessed I feel, when I think about how I got you and Dad."

Eijiro was sniffling, tears flowing down his cheeks steadily. Nobody could really call him on it. They were all at least just a _little_ moved.

Jukei, for his part, was still waiting for the violins and the director to declare the end of the scene, because this was _golden_. But if his student spent too long being sentimental, he'd be caught off his guard too easily. "Well then, enough with the reunions and sentiments," He spoke up, "let's get this party _started_!"

As soon as someone pulled a stereo out of nowhere and began to play music, Izuku spent the next few hours as he center of attention, slightly nervous about that. Once he'd blown out the candles on his cake, he felt uninhibited. He really had spent the last couple months under a tight schedule, and this was the perfect chance to unwind. Better yet, this was the chance for him to hang out with all of his friends. He had no doubt it was either Tsuyu or his mother who had told them how important that date was.

"Thanks for coming, August-senpai."

"Aww, come on, Izuku, give me some credit, I wanted to be here. And what have I told you?"

"Huh, I don't know, _Aniki_. How would my mother react if she found out I was calling you that?"

"I believe I would wonder." The two jumped at the sound of her voice, and turned to behind August to see Inko smiling sweetly at them, speaking in a tone that matched. "Does August-kun know what bears do when their cubs are threatened?"

August gulped as Izuku muttered a quick "I'll go catch up with Kendou-san." then quickly searched for another conversation.

Why did he abandon him like this?! "Uhhhh, yes, ma'am," he said nervously, "I am, uh, quite familiar."

"Do that to whoever threatens him, for me."

"Huh?"

"A mother knows these things, August-kun." She turned away from him, looking off into the ocean distance. "I can tell you're more than just intrigued by my son. I don't know exactly in what sense, but … I won't be able to look after Izuku, when he's enrolled in U.A."

"Right." August got it. "Heights Alliance. They built a dormitory system for their students to ensure their security in the event that villains would try to attack them. They _are_ grooming their students to be the best, not to mention they want to keep lodging for all the students who came so far from other countries."

"Yes. As much as it pains me to say it…" Inko fought her tears, for one of the few times in her life; they wouldn't be any good if she couldn't get through this, "it actually would be safer if he was a part of the dormitories; for him, and for us- my husband and I." She sighed. "And there will be a time his teachers cannot help him. He will need the help of a senior who, at the same time, is a peer." She turned back to look at the senior exchange student. "And no matter how much I think about how strong he's become I … I cannot stop worrying for him."

This was information more personal than anything August had been prepared to hear. This woman hardly knew him. Then again … it was very likely she knew about him, specifically everything Izuku could have told her. If that was the case…

A soft smile made its way on Inko's face, and August tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach "when- when he was a little boy I … I did something unforgivable" she started voice strained "I broke his dream, and with it, almost him. He never talked about it, after he started training. He probably didn't feel the need to. But… even so… he really wanted to hear it from me… or his father."

This… wasn't what August was expecting. Though he knew he should have. Izuku was so trusting. Now he knew specifically who he'd gotten it from.

"I thought he'd at least talk to his friends about it," Inko continued, "but when he told me about you, he sounded – and please don't take this the wrong way – like he had found someone above him, who he could still reach. Before then, he'd looked at full-grown heroes, and felt those were heights it would take his whole life to reach. But you… you made it seem possible to reach those heights even sooner. Maybe he thought it was because you weren't that much older, and he'd only have to wait until he was your age, but the fire in his eyes had never burned so bright. I can't thank you enough for that."

August was so… touched by that. He was well aware that, out of everyone here, he had known Izuku for the least amount of time, except for the young lady Kendou, the American girl, and … this emaciated stranger he'd have to look out for. To think he'd had an impact on his life like that…

He let out a small smile. It felt good

She bowed. "Please look after my son"

 _Well,_ August thought _that happened._

Izuku had more fun on his birthday than any before. They ate cake, they danced, they swam in the seaside (and did _not_ vomit, that is a myth); Tsuyu and Mina got fantastic reactions out of Izuku, hugging him in nothing but their frilly green two piece and their black violet-rimmed two piece bikinis respectively.

A few hours later, Izuku was sitting on the side of the beach by himself, in his dark green swim trunks. Everyone had worked together on cleaning up the trash, and most had gone home. He was just sitting in the sand, watching the sunset go down.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" He turned to the left to see Tsuyu and Mina walking towards him. He blushed as they were still in their swimsuits. Tsuyu's comment only made him more focused on them, and less on the sunset.

"Yeah…" he said, staring at them, hypnotized, "beautiful."

Mina grinned her classic Mina-mischief grin. She looked adorable. "Well then, well sit down with you!"

He was not prepared, physically or mentally, for when they sat down on each side of him, Tsuyu on his left, Mina on his right. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

Tsuyu looked to Izuku's other side at Mina, who looked straight back at her. It was now or never.

"Izuku?" Tsuyu spoke to get his attention, and he turned to look at her curiously. "Mina has something she wants to tell you."

"Eh?" Izuku turned to the pink pinkette in question. "What is it, Micchan?"

God, she loved it when he called her that. It was so cute. "I've honestly wanted to tell you this for a while now." She said. "But … with Tsu … it was just too hard."

He raised an eyebrow at that. What could she say that couldn't be said in front of Mina

"But now…" she leaned towards him, her eyes slowly closing, "with her help…I don't have anything to worry about."

Wait, what? Oh no. Oh no, this was not happening. This was simply _not_ happening! What was he supposed to do? He had to lean away quick and put a stop to this before it even started –

*Chu*

…Warm

Her lips were warm. And soft. That was … all he could really think about right now. Any shock was quickly ignored as his eyes fluttered closed, and he pushed forward slightly. Both of their mouths were closed. It was a simple, on-the-lips kiss. And it was absolutely mind-blowing. Izuku could feel his heart pounding against his rib cage, and he was certain his face was completely red. After a few seconds, Mina was the first to pull away. And as soon as she did, Izuku's eyes shot open as he realized what he'd just done, his face beet red. He looked at Mina, who was just grinning softly, with a heavy lilac blush. He then, fully registering the environment, turned at breakneck speeds to look at Tsuyu, who was still sitting there, blank faced, but for him, in one of the few times in his life … unreadable.

Instantly, he panicked. He flailed his hands in front of him, making some weak attempt to defend himself. "Ts-Tsucchan … Tsuyu … I …" It wasn't going too well. "I … I-I-I swear I … d-don't know what happened. S-She k-k-k-k-kissed me first and … and I know I k-kissed her back … but …" He hung his head, sighing in defeat. But nothing. He had kissed another girl besides Tsucchan, and he had to pay for it. There was really nothing to say. He could only own up to his screw-up.

Instead, he felt something wet and squishy on his cheek. He looked up from the ground, to see a rare sight, even for him: Tsuyu, her eyes closed, making her look peaceful, and her tongue making a small loop, before ending on his cheek. This was how Tsuyu liked to peck him on the cheek. She had done it a lot when they were kids, as a way of comforting him privately. She had done it less when they began going out, wanting to really kiss him. It was good to know they hadn't lost their affect. Um … "What?" Tsuyu retracted her tongue, opened her eyes, and did something that, given her deadpan attitude, she rarely did: she smiled, and softly.

"It's okay, Izu-chan. I'm not upset."

Okay, she was throwing him off utterly. Tsuyu was the most level-headed person he knew, but how was she not upset that another girl, even if it was Mina – no, _because_ it was Mina – had kissed him, her boyfriend? This was so confusing, it was infuriating!

"I've known you for a long time, Izu-chan." Tsuyu Began. "I was always glad to be friends with you. And then, soon enough, I wanted us to be more than friends. And when you accepted it – when you said a shaky 'yes' to me – I was so happy…" her eyes became misty for a moment, "And being so unfair to you."

"What?" Where did the fairness of this situation to him come into this? He was in a relationship with a girl, who he had known since they were six, and made his heart beat at paces that shouldn't even be legal! It felt pretty fair to him!

"You wear your heart on your sleeve, Izu-chan." Said girl carried on, her voice … carrying emotion? It was so rare that she did that? "You help everyone you can, regardless of background. When Katsuki nearly died, you saved him without any thought to yourself. You have such a big heart. And how is it fair of me to keep that heart to myself?"

In case it wasn't clear, Izuku was really not for this idea. "It-It-It's fair because you took the chance you had, Tsuyu." He said, hating every word for some reason. "It's j-j-j-just not right to be d-d-dating another girl! I almost don't want to suggest it, but wouldn't it just make it more likely that relationship we have wouldn't work out?"

"I doubt out relationship won't work out, Izu-chan. If I'm the only girlfriend you've got, how will any other girl have a chance? We're pursuing a dangerous course of life. Life is too short for maybes, or buts, or what ifs. Especially our lives. I want us to live, Izuku. I don't want Mina losing happiness for our sake."

Izuku was trying not to show it, but this was all making him dizzy. This wasn't anything like the Tsuyu he knew. This was absolutely crazy, not to mention, with being frank cam a certain measure of boldness. Tsuyu was very possessive, and showed it whenever a girl got too close to him. Then it occurred to him: did she care about Mina that much? It was more than likely she was doing this for her sake too. If that was the case…

"I won't mind if you date another girl, Izu-chan." Izuku couldn't stop himself from smiling softly at that. Suddenly, she pointed between his eyes, causing him to go cross-eyed trying to look at it. "BUT…" she poked him in the nose for emphasis, "if you don't treat her with the exact same amount of love and care as you treat me, I won't forgive you. Got it? I don't want any special attention unless she's getting it too."

Izuku was dumbfounded. He had not woken up expecting this today. He took a few mental breaths, and then thought about this rationally. They came to him. They _wanted_ this. When he thought about it, their reasoning made sense. They weren't going to be leading normal lives; hero course was full of extraordinarily mannered people. And they faced life-threatening situations on a daily basis. Did they really have the wherewithal to question their life choices? He wanted to be a hero, and he wanted to think he'd never die, but what if he did? If there was someone like Mina and Tsuyu who liked him, and they never got the chance because he was to stubborn to give them a one, how would he forgive himself? Maybe … maybe this insane idea would actually have some merit. Plus, there was this small, quiet voice in the back of his head that was telling him he really couldn't say no.

"So…Izuku…" I was Mina speaking now, and Izuku turned to face her, to find her looking uncharacteristically bashful "how 'bout it."

And now he was supposed to react to that. Well, here went nothing. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

"I'm not exactly 100% sure about this but…" He gave her a bright smile, his cheeks pink with his admitted bashfulness over the situation. "I'll do my best, Micchan. I-I promise."

The pink girl's heart absolutely soared at that moment. There was really only one way she could respond. "EEEEE!" She tackled him into a hug and gave him a big, fat kiss on the cheek. But this time was different. It was a hug of true affection. There was nothing being held back. And Mina was not glaring at them. In fact, she made the decision to jump onto Izuku's other side, and kiss him on the mirror cheek. The three of them giggled as they basically snuggled right there on the sea side.

"Besides," Tsuyu said, "If you're gonna go pulling stunts like with that slime villain, I'm gonna need help."

"I couldn't Stop myself!"

"Exactly. Kero. If you're intent on running headlong into life-threatening situations like that, it'd be nice to at least have someone to share the worry with."

Izuku could only sigh as Mina chuckled. If this was what they wanted from him, he really didn't have a reason to deny them. He got to make them both happy. How could he really refuse them?

"Say," Izuku said thoughtfully, "is this, by any chance, my birthday gift?"

"Are you trying to squeeze something more out of this?" Mina spoke coyly.

"Wha-? No!"

"God, you're precious!" Mina laughed. "I was just kidding!"

* * *

 _ **The Next Day, Afternoon**_

 _ **Kyashi Ward Mall**_

 _This should work…_

Izuku was currently standing in front of a full-length mirror, wearing a green dragon print long sleeve button-up t-shirt and dark khaki multi-pocketed solid zip-up cargo pants. And of course, on his feet were his brand new set of bright red sneakers, an early present from his dad overseas for his 15th. This seemed like a good occasion to wear them on, being his first date with Mina and all.

Okay, he needed to think about that for a moment.

His first Date. With Mina

The three of them had decided that their three way relationship by Izuku taking Mina out on their first date; _their_ first date. It was one thing that he had gone out with Tsuyu on their first date, but this was his first date with _another girl_.

And it just so happened to be the girl he had been mutually crushing on alongside Tsuyu like an indecisive dork. No, there was nothing awkward or pressure-inducing about this at _all_.

He had meant it when he told them he wasn't sure about this at all. In fact, he was beginning to feel he was suffering a bit of an anxiety attack. This went against everything he knew! Was Tsuyu really letting him go out with a girl and herself at the same time? It just sounded so wrong! How could he not feel like he was just playing them?! Guys didn't go out with more than just one girl, right? Right!

But he had also meant it when he'd said he would do everything he could. So what if they both liked him? That was all the reason they needed to want to go out with him. And Tsuy had a very valid point about life being short. Besides, he wanted this. There was really nothing to be worried about, except how this date would go. And honestly? He was liking how it could go.

Temporarily satisfied with his deliberations, he headed out the front door.

"See you later, Mom."

"Have fun, sweetie."

His mother knew he was going to be hanging out with Mina. And no one else. Late at night. Hopefully coming home before midnight. He just didn't tell her the exact nature of their quality time.

Oh, if only he knew.

Down the stairs, and off towards Kiyashi Ward Mall, did he make his way. It was as good a dating site as any. They started hanging out together as a whole group when they had begun middle school. Naturally, it had been Mina who had brought them there for the first time. Now it was just the two of them. Goddammit, just stop mulling over it and try to have a good time!

When he got there, he stood just outside the entrance, waiting for Mina. It gave him some more time to think about this; or more truthfully, think about the _real_ issue.

" _I won't mind if you date another girl, Izu-chan."_

" _Another girl;"_ Those were Tsucchan's specific words, not _"I won't mind you dating Mina."_ What did that mean?!

The things Tsuyu had said yesterday, they pointed towards a lot more than if the relationship was just the three of them. Oh sweet Endeavor's beard, did she mean …

What did this mean for him? Was Tsuyu expecting this in high school? Did she think other girls were going to be attracted to him? And want to go out with him? And get just that? This was too much. He needed to sit down and think about this.

NO! Now was not the time to be worrying about such things! He just needed to enjoy his time with this girl! With that in mind, he pushed down his outrageous deliberations and turned his thoughts to Micchan. He figured she would be here first. Her boundless energy used to surprise him.

"Izu!"

He turned to see Mina Herself running towards him, waving at him excitedly. She was wearing a lime green blouse and white shorts that went down to her knees, and thigh-high socks under her normal brown shoes. He noted she was still running and … yep. She was not slowing down at all. In preparation, he spread his arms out, ready to catch her.

As he expected, once Mina was close enough to him, she pounced on him and collided with his chest, causing him to stumble bit.

He might have been knocked over at one point, but he was built like a brick house now. In fact, Mina wanted to experience that first-hand, before Tsuyu got bragging rights.

"Hi, Micchan." He smiled warmly at her, cheeks slightly pink. "You ready for this?"

"You betcha!" She replied, leading him in by the hand. "C'mon, let's get to the theatre. It's gonna start in just a few minutes!"

They had decided to start off simple since, while he _was_ technically romantically experienced, it was the start of a relationship with Mina. The movie they were about to see was about a news reporter who had become the host for a symbiotic alien lifeform who could apparently allow them to shape-shift to some extent. Naturally, Mina was ecstatic to see it. She had done something between hugging Izuku and strangling him when he'd said he already had tickets. What she hadn't known was that they had already been bought on a whim. Now he just had an excuse.

They went to get confections, and Izuku _insisted_ they split, even if the giant bag of peanut M&Ms was more than the giant tub of popcorn.

After that, they went straight to their seats, confectionaries in hand and an awesome entertainment piece about to begin.

Izuku marveled at how the reporter was willing to ask the corporation leader such daring questions, and sympathized with how he had lost everything because he wasn't supposed to. He was doing the right thing. And he was fascinated by how the alien he had merged with had become this

Mina was in awe at the badassery of the alien, how it had apparently merged with a human to become this shape-shifting monster. Its name was starting to give her some ideas … and memories.

 _A ten year old, slightly shaken Izuku, turned to a beaming Mina. "S-so … you're going to take your hero name … from that?"_

" _Yeah … why? Do you not like it?"_

" _What? NO! Nonononono! It's awesome! And it really suits you! It's just … it might scare other people who understand the reference. Plus, you might have to worry about copyright infringement."_

" _Eh?"_

" _You could be sued for taking a name that doesn't belong to you."_

" _Oh …"_

" _But it's still really awesome. You're Acid is a lot like how they bleed, and you look enough like a cool alien species that the alien part would_ have _to be there! And adding queen or king into any name makes it cooler!"_

 _She blushed at that. Her older brother suggested she go by "Pinky," just because she was the only one in the family with her skin color, and her family as a whole thought it was unimaginative, using something or someone else's name. But, again, Izuku had told her words she didn't even know she needed to hear._

" _Just in case," he said, getting her attention back, "we should probably think of some other names, in case_

" _Y-yeah," she agreed "we should do that…"_

Fifteen minutes into the film, Izuku felt something on top of his hand and looked to see Mina had lain her hand on his. Smiling, he turned his hand upside, so he could grab hers.

About two-thirds in, Mina had placed her head on Izuku's shoulder. She had kept things go slow at this point, hoping to help him get into the swing of a relationship. Then she had realized: he'd been in a relationship. She didn't want to waste time falling behind Tsuyu just because she'd been scared to overstep a boundary that he had already crossed anyway. So she would take this relationship at _her_ pace. She hoped Izuku didn't mind, because she wasn't slowing down either way.

She smiled when she felt his head try to nuzzle hers, avoiding the horns as best he could.

The two of them walked out of the theater, ecstatic with satisfaction over the movie. "So," what do you want to do now?" The movie was great and all, but she didn't want this first date to end so abruptly.

Izuku turned to her. "Wanna … get a milkshake?"

"*Pfft* We just got a bag of M&Ms you dork!"

He smirked, and then turned on his heel. "Okay, I guess I'll just get one myself. See you Mina. I really enjoyed tonight."

He honestly didn't like teasing people. Even if playful, it was still to their detriment. But if Mina was gonna be like that … he had no qualms.

"Wha- HEY!" Immediately, Mina pounced, latching onto his arm and pulling at him. He looked at her, giggling in slight bewilderment to see her pouting in irritation. "Let's go get those 'shakes! And you're paying for both of us you jerk!"

Even if she didn't figure out she was teasing him, he decided, that was so worth the small scratch to his self-respect, not following his moral compass like that.

* * *

So there they were, both sipping on a frosty one, when Mina looked like she had just figured something out.

"Heeeey … you were tricking be back there, weren't you!"

Izuku sniggered. Mina was really cute even when annoyed, but she was even cuter when she took so long to figure out something so simple. "I don't know what you mean, Mina. You decided to join me after all, and I'm just glad about that.

Mina pouted, but relented at that.

"… Hey, Izuku?"

Izuku turned to her too see a slightly anxious look on her face. "Yeah?"

"Are you …" She put her hand on his, gripping it softly, "Having fun?"

He and Mina had known each other on a personal level for years. It was painfully obvious that she was worried he felt the need to accept her feelings out of obligation, so as not to hurt her, if nothing else. It, as much as it hurt to say it, made sense. He was technically already seeing another girl, so he could have been doing this just to be fair. But that wasn't the case. He had felt privileged to know Mina as long as he had. She was this frenetic, stubborn, funny, gorgeous girl who he had known for years. He had been at war with himself over confessing to her or the composed mature, intelligent, and adorable Tsuyu, who just so happened to make the first move.

But now there was no need for that; because they had agreed to (as much as it gave him an aneurism just to think these outrageous words) share him. I wasn't a practical arrangement, but he had promised them he'd make it work.

Another thing that came as a result of knowing each other for so long, was that he didn't have to explain why he felt this way about her.

So, he grabbed her hand with his other, and, subconsciously, entwined them. "Of course." He spoke softy, blushing a bit. "I'm glad I got to go out with you Mina." He had to make sure he used those exact words and not 'I'm glad I got to spend time with you.' They were going above that now.

"G-good." She said. "I don't want you to think that you have to do this … or that you have to like me."

"Don't worry, Micchan." He said, using his childhood nickname just for her. God, she truthfully didn't want him calling her anything else, not even her hero name. "I like you too. I like you a whole lot."

* * *

Izuku had agreed to walk her back to her house. They were currently standing in front of her house, a two-story building holding six.

Mina squeezed Izuku in the tightest hug she could manage. She leaned up to his ear and whispered. "See you again, Izu-chan."

A hug he promptly returned. "See you, Micchan." He then decided to do something he'd wanted to do for a very long time. Her head right next to his, he planted his lips on her soft cheek.

Mina stood there, stiff as a board, as her crush-turned-shared-boyfriend gave her a kiss. It wasn't their first kiss, obviously, and it certainly wasn't on the lips, but Izuku had been the one to initiate it, and there was no energy or unrequited need behind it. Just affection. Pure, genuine, undaunted affection that made Mina's heart explode.

After a few seconds, that had felt more like hours, Izuku pulled his lips away and smiled at her brightly. Seriously, how did such a built guy look so _cute?!_ "Let's do this again sometime." He said earnestly, before walking off, leaving Mina standing in front of her house.

He'd kissed her.

And he wanted to keep doing this.

As soon as she had gotten inside, she swung the door opened to her room and laid down on her bed, slammed her face into a pillow, and squealed at the top of her lungs.

* * *

Laying in his bed, face aflush, Izuku was not much better. He'd done it! Holy smokes, he'd actually gone out on a date with Mina! And capped it off perfectly as far as he was concerned.

This was a strange relationship they were leading, to be sure. He doubted he'd ever be able to top thinking about that fact. ANd it had begun under admittedly awkward circumstances, but that was okay. The future could only blossom from here on out.

Speaking of futures, he needed to get some sleep. They all had a hero school to attend.

* * *

 **And there it is, the full evidence of my apparent experience with reading romance, and equally apparent lack of experience with writing it. I'll give it my all as best I can. And that's a promise. I'm not sorry for how fast I took it. That won't change. I've seen way too many examples of anime where protagonists don't get other characters' feelings. MHA's special trait is that it breaks away from shounen tropes. At least the signal they sent is one that cannot be misinterpreted. Also, I might be cutting back on exposition a bit. We'll see.**

 **The nickname thing with Ochak/Georgia was a spur of the moment decision; I didn't know where it had come from. Then I realized I could potentially allow Ochaco to keep her American name while still being called "Uraraka-san" or "Uraraka-chan!" Genius, right? Fun fact: I came close to calling her** _ **Mabel**_ **Sherwood, but we've already got a lovable brown-haired, chubby-faced, rosy-cheeked, super-sunny and super-cute girl who goes by that first name. I don't think the girl in question is cute or loveable, I just think that seems to be the consensus of fans. Personally I find her to be thoughtless and more than just a bit obnoxious.**

 **I'm also going to have** _ **so much fun**_ **with the way Ochako/Georgia slips into an accent under frustration.**

 **Let it be known that the OC I introduced this chapter will be of greater significance to the story than I gave him with that admittedly shabby introduction. I just couldn't wait. You'll see him again next chapter, mark my words. Oh, wait, this is me marking them. Heh, I'm so silly.**

 **I feel like I should make something clear for everyone, even though no one's actually bothered me with it, so here it is: I don't** _ **prefer**_ **Izuku be with Tsuyu over anyone else. If that were the case, this wouldn't be a harem to begin with. I just felt it would be most accurate if she were first, given, one: her childhood friend disposition; two: the fact that she would fit better into the childhood friend image with Izuku than anyone else in the class; and three: her impressive maturity beyond her years. Sure, I added Mina as well, but that was more because friends tend to rub off on each other overtime, and Mina's natural boisterousness would certainly do well to highlight Izuku's own friendly disposition. We must also consider that Mina is… childish, and not as likely to act on her actual feelings as her peers. Plus, Awkward Energy is, by all comparisons, the most accurate depiction of how, despite being the incarnation of positive energy, her inexperience with romance makes her just as bashful and uncertain as anybody else.**

 **Something else I should clarify: I did not come up with some random high percentage for Izuku's threshold on One for All. I actually learned quite a bit from Kamil the Awesome. Here are the facts as I understand them: Izuku had started his strength training when he was ten. Five years of rigorous training later, both physical and mental, he was not only able to handle a quarter of his power without strain; he also brought it up to 30% in just fewer than two weeks. Let's say he had been doing that same harshness of training from the beginning, not all physical due to the damage it would do to someone of his prior age. Sure, I said more was endurance training than actual strength, but strength was certainly not outright** _ **neglected**_ **. Based on that, and how strenuous he made his beach-cleaning regimen, it's not impossible that he can handle even more than** **Headstart Izuku** **(That's what where calling him now, shut it).**

 **For those who are curious or haven't figured it out, I chose Venom as their date movie. It just seemed like a good idea. Plus, the movie** _ **was**_ **awesome, if deviating quite a bit from the actual origin story. I'm quite a stickler for accuracy.**

 **Also, I'm putting up yet another poll, on a much less significant matter than previous polls. Should I change one of the genres to Friendship? The options are as follows:**

 **Yes, replace the Romance label.**

 **Yes, replace the Adventure label.**

 **NO.**

 **Oh, and about the OC: his role will be to act as Izuku's favored Senpai through his time at U.A., and an older-brother figure. THe voice I described him as having seemed like it was ideal for his personality, as well as his lines. He will actually play a more expressed role than the last OC, for which I would like to apologize. I led you on a merry chase with him, and he ended up just being there. I am sorry for that.**

 **Tsuyu Asui**

 **Age: 15**

 **Gender: Female**

 **Height: 150 cm / 4' 11"**

 **Weight: 41 kgs. /90 lbs.**

 **Eyes: Black**

 **Hair: Teal**

 **Nationality: Japanese**

 **Date of Birth: February 12**

 **Handedness: Right**

 **Blood Type: B**

 **Likes: Rain, Jelly**

 **Dislikes: Salt, Winter**

 **Character Theme: Fireflight – Unbreakable**

 **Quirk: Frog – Tsuyu is endowed with the attributes of a frog. She can extent her tongue 25 meters (it has been a while since she has worked in this, as she finds it long enough for now), as well as use it to lift a weight of 350 kilograms with ease, jump 30 meters using her powerful legs which also provide effective stomp-kicks, stick to surfaces using her toes and fingers, hold her breath underwater for hours, swim with ease, eject her stomach, and secrete a paralyzing poison, capable of immobilizing a crowd of people with a palm full.**

 **Costume: Green and black skintight suit with yellow linings (imitate a frog's skin markings), goggles, gloves, and boots with frog-like design, save for having ten toes. Costume can change colors along with its user, allowing Tsuyu blend in excellently with her surroundings. The belt comes with empty darts, which Tsuyu can fill with her paralyzing poison.**

 **Fighting Style: Mid-range Support**

 _ **Skills:**_

 **Keen Intellect: Tsuyu is incredibly perceptive, highly academically adept, and has excellent deductive powers.**

 **Level Headed: Tsuyu can stay calm in the most life threatening of situations, and can tell when someone else is doing so, making her a good judge of whether they are making the correct call.**

 _ **Special Moves:**_

 **Camouflage** **: Tsuyu uses her frog-like body to match the temperature and color of her surroundings in order to mask her presence.**

 **Frog Shot: Tsuyu can fill a dart with her poison through venom collectors in her costume that lead straight to the darts on her belt through unseen tubes all over her costume.**

 **Froppy Cannon: Tsuyu coils up her legs and launches forward and, flipping in midair, recoils them again, before kicking her jumped-towards target.**

 **Venom Whip: Tsuyu tips her tongue with her poison, and lashes an enemy with it.**

 **Stats**

 **Power – 3 /5; C**

 **Speed – 4 /5; B**

 **Technique – 5 /5; A**

 **Intelligence – 4 /5; B**

 **Cooperativeness - 5/5; A**

 **That's enough of that. Next time: entrance exams, move-ins, and introductions.**


	7. A Series of Trying Events

**Okay, this is a warning to every single person favoriting and following this work. This is where the name changes get serious. I understand there's a bit of distress (or controversy, if you wanna go down that road) over it, but I'm not going back on my word. Anyone who wants to back out because this story is so out of the norm is welcome. But I will not take this story down, nor will I go back in my word. It was you, my followers, who voted three to one** _ **in favor**_ **of this concept.**

 **Moving on, let's respond to some reviews:**

 **etabb6** **: You are correct, good sir or ma'am.**

 **Carayen** **: I am grateful someone knows I'm trying to keep their personalities accurate. Tsuyu was the hardest for me to manage, since her deadpan outlook makes it rather difficult to promote the idea that she would propose something as outrageous as a harem. I think Momo will be the hardest for me in the future, since I find it hard to get a read on her. One minute she's the epitome of the female military hard-ass, the next she's an innocent super-rich girl.**

 **Dark White Fang** **: Love the username! That does sound like a good idea, but I've never played the Yakuza franchise, so I don't know what to do you'll have to send me an idea some time.**

 **DhanaRaganrok** **: I'm … there are no words. You have touched me. It takes a good reviewer like you to help me step back and really appreciate the work I put into this. Thank you.**

 **Deep Sea Diver Man** **: I … I don't even know who that is.**

 **Another shout out to my Konshiro Bro-brahsa, nominee for Beta reader of the year. Every Alpha needs a good beta ... Reader!**

 **Here are the characters introduced his chapter:**

 **Yuuga Aoyama - Dior Beauregard (French)**

 **Denki Kaminari - Derrick Page (American)**

 **Mezou Shouji - Simon Mathias (Canadian)**

 **Yagi Toshinori - Garrick Lamont (American)**

 **Shota Aizawa (Eraserhead) - Sage Aisling (Irish)**

 **Shoto Todoroki - Samuel Brenton (Half British & American)**

 **Ibara Shiozaki - Acantha Euphemia (Greek)**

 **Hanta Sero - Hernando Salvador (Spanish)**

 **Kyoka Jiro - Thanh Lan (Korean)**

 **Ochako** **Uraraka - Georgia Sherwood (American)**

 **Momo Yaoyorozu - Nicola Wilhelm (German)**

 **Neito Monoma - Solomon Arnold (British)**

 **Yosetsu Awase - Comhghall Reagan (Irish)**

 **Tooru Hagakure - Alaia Amets (Basque)**

 **Tenya Iida - Hector Anderson (British)**

 **Mashirao Ojiro - Quiang Ru (Chinese)**

 **Pony Tsunotori - Pony Cornelius(American)**

 **Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu - TÖMÖR BAATAR (Mongolian)**

 **Rikido Sato - Hjalmar Nikolaj (Danish)**

 **Yui Kodai - Ju Wei (Chinese)**

 **Setsuna Tokage - Chara Asklepios (Greek)**

 **Shihai Kuroiro - Krishna Sanjit (Bengali)**

 **Reiko Yanagi - Ravenna Willow (British)**

 **Jurota Shishida - Leonard Albrecht (German)**

 **Togaru Kamakiri - Gabriel Elmar (German)**

 **Hiryu Rin - Lin Fei-long (Chinese)**

 **Kosei Tsuburaba - Morgan Yale (Welsh)**

 **Kojiro Bondo - Berk Yağmur (Austrailian)**

 **Sen Kaibara - Viên Trai (Vietnamese)**

 **Hitoshi Shinso - Helmut Richard (German)**

 **Juzo Honenuki - Jaymang Norbu (New Zealand)**

 **Kinoko Komori - Oihana Izaro (Basque)**

 **Koji Koda - Blair Lennon (Scottish)**

 **Let it be known I will not be using the names of the heroes unless they end up actually being addressed by them.**

 **Oh, and before I forget …**

 **MEEEEERRRRYYY CHRISTMAS, AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

* * *

"It's super-nice to meet you." – normal speech

" _Where are you looking?!"_ – speaking with emphasis/ speaking in a flashback

 _Is he worried?_ – thinking/ flashback dialogue

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" - screaming

" _WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE"_ – Screaming with emphasis

"Moshi Moshi" – talking over the phone, or a screen

"DETROIT SMASH" – special move

" **Hope has arrived! Because I am here!"** \- Buff All Might speaking, Intense Speaking

{READY? START} – Speaker phone speech (Present Mic, in other words)

Journal entry 12 \- Written Words

* * *

 _ **February 26th, 2215, the Day of the U.A. Entrance Exam, 8:40 A.M.**_

 _ **U.A High School**_

U.A. High school's hero course: a training school for those whose goal is to acquire the necessary qualifications needed for pro heroes. Among similar courses across the world, theirs is the most popular and competitive, with their acceptance rate being less than one in three thousand every year. The school's alumni list contains many of the biggest hero names today. Such as the number one hero, All Might; the hero with the record for the most incidents ever resolved, the Flame Hero, Endeavor; the winner of the Best Jeanist award for all eight years of his career in a row, the Fiber Hero: Best Jeanist; all just to name a few among the best of _the best of_ _the best_! Graduating is, in and of itself, a requirement for becoming a legendary hero.

It was at the entrance of this very school where Izuku stood. He and his friends had agreed to arrive on their own time, so he didn't know if they were already here or still making their way. They had spent the last eight months pushing themselves to their limits, under Penance's tutelage, with assistance from their Senpai, August. They were ready for this. Having finally gained access to One for All's true boon, he had become able to use fifteen percent without strain. But he wasn't just going to enhance his strength, oh no. Being the quirk nerd he was, he'd find a way to make to seem like his multiple quirks were just multiple applications. The only one he would never use was "All Might's" 8th quirk, not that he lost anything for it.

8th Quirk: Titan – the user takes on appearance of a bigger, much more muscular version of themselves. With enough training, can be maintained 24/7. Does not increase strength, or anything else besides size.

They were so busy in fact, that he had not been able to spend much quality time with Mina and Tsuyu, apart from training together with them. Their relationship hadn't really gotten anywhere from "I've liked you for some time, let's go out with our mutual friend's permission." It was just a little bit frustrating.

That being said, training as a group meant they got to work with Georgia and Itsuka, the two of them having decided to work to together with Izuku and company. It gave them a chance to learn a bit about the two of them. Itsuka came from a family of martial arts teachers that went back generations. She wanted to put what she had learned to use, rather than simply teach it to others as her family had been doing. She was also rather vivacious and thoughtful soul, quite the contrast to the calculating opponent Izuku had faced once. Her Quirk, Big Fist, was rather simplistic, but she put it to good use. Izuku suggested that she should likely change the name to something like "Giant Fist" since "Big Fist" didn't quite captivate the spectacle of it, after seeing her hand grow to the size of a minivan.

She agreed, though rather calmly, so as not to raise any suspicions.

Georgia, sweet Georgia, was from America, confirming their suspicions, and her family ran a construction company (she didn't go into detail). Izuku had never met someone so warm in his life. Sure she was kind of a ditz with a bad habit of saying some things without thinking about them, (a prominent contrast to Tsuyu, who _always_ thought about what she said, but still said them) but otherwise, she was ever thoughtful and a bit optimistic. Even if she _didn't_ have a quirk as cool as negating gravity (an enigma he was still trying to figure out), her attitude was definitely one that could lift others' spirits. He had never asked her why she wanted to be heroes, but it was obvious to him she wanted to help others.

It was nice, he thought, getting to make new friends. He didn't know why he cringed slightly at the thought.

There had been a week where he hadn't seen or heard from All Might, and then the very next time he'd seen him, he'd announced that he was now a teacher at U.A. It was a completely sensible idea, since he could keep an eye on him, and he'd get to use his remaining years to teach future heroes.

Izuku had hoped he didn't mean that literally.

Jukei-sensei had been acting a little distant, lately, and he had been spending less time attending their training sessions less. Izuku had feeling he knew what that meant, and he really hoped he was wrong.

"Outta the way, Deku."

Utterly unsurprised, Izuku turned to see Katsuki walking towards the entrance, scowling. He was a bit taller than Izuku remembered, and muscle was showing through his uniform. "Hi to you too, Kacchan."

"Get out of my way before I set you on fire." Katsuki threatened.

Izuku huffed. "I should've guessed." He muttered. "I'll see you on the other side."

Katsuki simply walked around him, not stopping at all.

Izuku watched him walk off. _What is up with him? He'd always confront me, no matter who was watching. And he's actually walking_ around _?_

"You'd best not make an embarrassment of yourself, nerd!" Katsuki yelled back at him, without turning. "I want it to mean something when I break you!"

... Izuku allowed a small smile to grace his lips. Kacchan believed he'd make it in.

"Dekiru-kun!"

He turned back to the archway, with the same smile on his face as Georgia ran up to him. "Hey, Uraraka-san. Looking forward to passing?"

The girl smiled nervously. "To be honest, I'm kind of nervous." She quickly switched gears. "But let's do our best!"

Izuku could only smile fondly. Then he remembered something that had bothered him for the past week or so.

"Say, Georgia?"

"Yes?"

"You seem to have been … avoiding us for the past week. Is there any reason for that? You don't have to share if it's too personal."

Suddenly, Georgia's face became blank, then she blanched as she had remembered a "spar" with August and Tsuyu.

* * *

 _ **Exactly one Week ago**_

 _ **Just outside Tagoba Municipal Beach**_

 _August had agreed to join them in their training, acting as a more serious opponent. They quickly learned he was even more terrifying as an opponent than Jukei himself. Georgia was currently experiencing this by clinging to a rail for dear life next to Tsuyu, who was barely holding on by her tightly coiled tongue, as August attempted to grab them from afar with the strange white glow that surrounded their bodies, and was moving closer, ready to "capture" them._

 _She tried to think. What would Dekiru do in this situation …_

 _Next to her, Tsuyu turned to look at her. "Georgia, Kero."_

 _Frustrated, the girl turned to her friend. "What is it?! I was just trying to- "_

" _Were you trying to think of what Izuku-chan would do in this situation, by any chance?"_

 _Georgia paused at this how had Tsu figured that out? Sure, she had grown fond of him over the past several months, but … was it really becoming that obvious?_

" _I thought so because I was, too."_

 _Georgia simply looked at Tsuyu in confusion. She had come to learn the girl was blunt no matter what she had to say, but she always made a point. What did them having thoughts about the same guy-… wait, why did she think of it like that? What was Tsuyu trying to say?_

" _Do you like him?"_

 _Georgia blushed furiously and planted her hands on her hot cheeks, inadvertently sending herself floating into the air. It didn't take long for her and Tsuyu to lose the match._

* * *

Georgia turned a whole new shade of red.

"WellitwasgreattalkingtoyouagainIzukuI'llseeyoulaterlet'sdoourbestbyyyyyyeee." And with that, she bee-lined for the entrance. Leaving Izuku bewildered, confused, and not just a bit hurt.

That did nothing to curb his wonder. Seriously, she had been so open with them, and now it was like she was uncomfortable to talk to them. Was there a possibility it only really ever happened because he was around? Suddenly he got the feeling we was being looked at. He looked around, and just behind him to his right was a girl, looking between where Mabel stood and where he was standing. She was a slim girl standing (5' 5 ½" / 166 cm), and she had dark green eyes with long eyelashes and … vines for hair? He couldn't help but notice how the sunlight was hitting her "hair" at just the right angle to highlight it like a halo.

 _Huh._ He thought. _Guess in this day and age, it makes sense that vine haired angels can exist._

"What was that about?" She spoke. Her melodious voice broke Izuku out of his musings, and he quickly realized she was referring to what had happened with Georgia.

"She seems embarrassed about something." Izuku responded, trying not to get lost in her eyes. It made it really hard to look directly at her. So to make sure she didn't think he was put off by her, he turned to where Georgia had just been, feigning looking into the distance. "I don't know what. Every time I try to talk with her, she tries to make up some excuse or she just plain beelines out."

"Oh?" When he looked back, he could tell this girl was genuinely interested in this strife between them. That was nice of her. "Did you two have a falling out of some sort?"

"I can't even be sure." Izuku responded. "One moment we're good friend who have known each other for months, the next day, it's like she's embarrassed to be around me. I'm honestly not sure what's wrong with her. She just seems so flust- …" Suddenly, for no reason that occurred to him, he paused, and thought about what Tsuyu had said once again all those months ago.

 _"I won't mind if you date another girl, Izu-chan."_

And then he made the connection.

"NOPE!" Face completely red, he zoomed into the exam site, desperate to replace such thoughts with thoughts about entering into U.A.! And Tests! And Quirks! Literally anything else!

The vine-haired girl blinked, looking on in no small amount of confusion as the curly-haired boy dashed into the building. She idly wondered if she'd see him again, if only to find out what was disturbing him.

* * *

Inside the auditorium, a single man stood before the students. He was slim, and had bleach blonde hair styled like a cockatoo's crest and a small mustache. He wore sunglasses with yellow lenses, a set of headphones, and a seemingly glued-on grin. He also wore a black jacket with a studded upturned collar and tan, studded shoulder pads, black boots, black pants with a red studded belt a directional speaker on his neck, and black fingerless gloves.

"WHAT'S UP, U.A. CANDIDATES!" He spoke with overflowing panache. "Thanks for turning in to me, the School DJ! Come on, Lemme hear ya!" He held a hand up to his ear.

He was met with utter silence.

"Keepin' it mellow, huh? Well, let's get to how this exam will go down! ARE YOU READY?!"

Again, nothing but silence.

Enter Izuku Midoriya, Hero fanboy extraordinaire. "Omigosh! It's the Voice Hero: Present Mic! I listen to his radio show every day of the week! It's so cool all the teachers are pro heroes!"

"Shut up." Katsuki muttered from beside him, purely out of habit.

"Anyway," the loud hero said, "like your application says, today you rockin' youngsters will be out there conducting 15 minute mock battles in super-hip urban settings. After I drop the mic here, you'll head to your specified battle center. Sound good?"

Nobody answered at all.

"I get it." Bakugo said, looking at his card. "This way we can't work with anyone we know."

"Since we have numbers one after the other, but we're assigned different numbers." Izuku agreed.

"Mind your own business!" The delinquent barked. "Best of luck, Deku. You're gonna need it."

Izuku smiled. "Good luck to you too. You won't be a big fish in little water anymore, Kacchan. I hope you're not expecting things to be like back in middle school."

"… Shut the fuck up, Deku." But he didn't disagree.

"Okay, let's check your targets." Present Mic said, getting their attention. "There are three types of faux villains to fight in each battle center. You'll earn points based on their toughness. So you better choose wisely. The goal in this trial is to use your quirk to raise your score by disabling faux villains. HOWEVER!" The blonde hero raise a finger way up past his head. "Not all of you her have quirks that are combat intended. _So_ , our generous engineering staff had them designed with switches in areas – which we will let you find yourself – that allow you to just turn 'em off just in case your quirk don't work."

Apparently there were indeed some individuals with quirks that couldn't be used to fight robots, because Izuku heard many apparent released breaths.

"But check it! Going anti-hero and attacking other examinees is a big no-no, ya dig me?" The Voice Hero suddenly notice a hand raised in the crowd. "Yes, young listener, what's up!"

The "young listener" was a British boy standing (5' 10"/ 179 cm), with a prominent amount of muscle. He has blue-tinted black hair and wears square-rimmed glasses, and has a square jaw. Heck, his entire figure can pretty much be described as "square." Izuku couldn't help but notice his pants sleeves were rolled up past his calves, and he saw they had exhaust pipes in them. He Held up a sheet that had the faux villains on it, and pointed to a fourth image. "Excuse me! On this sheet, there are _four_ types of faux villains listed. If this is a mistake on the part of the staff, it is shameful! We are exemplary students, and we expect more from the premier among hero academies! And another thing!" He then turned and pointed to where Izuku and Katsuki were sitting. "You, with the unkempt hair!"

"… Kacchan, I think he's talking about you."

"Fuck you, nerd!" The delinquent hissed.

"You've been muttering this entire time. Stop that!" Oh so he'd been thinking hard after all, and the guy was, in fact, talking about him. This guy's glare looked like it belonged there. "If you can't bother to take this seriously, leave! You're distracting the rest of us!"

This kid had balls, Izuku would give him that.

Let it be known that while it was a shared opinion that Izuku was the nicest guy you could meet, he had a history of being done with people's' shit. He would not apologize for being himself. It didn't help that this guy was _inadvertently_ insulting him by actively suggesting he shouldn't be here, when he didn't even know him. What Izuku knew, however, was that this person was clearly from an "elite" academy.

"The same can be said for you, sir!" The inheritor retorted coolly. "If small noises that aren't even meant to be heard throw you off so much, maybe _you_ don't belong here." Whoever this guy was, he apparently was not expecting Izuku to talk to him like that, but that just allowed him to continue. "I think we are all very aware of the fourth robot, Mr. Private School." Never say Kacchan didn't teach him anything. "But apparently you couldn't even wait for the teacher to get to that part. You had to interrupt the whole assembly. You must be so proud, criticizing the _teachers_ when you stand as the _taught_." Never say Fumikage hadn't taught him anything, either.

To Izuku's surprise, the student did not protest, he simply apologized. "I apologize. You are correct. I should have allowed him to explain completely." And sat back down.

If it was possible, Present Mic's grin actually _widened_. "Well handled, examinee numbers 7111 and 2234! As I was indeed going to say, the zero-point villain is an obstacle. I said there were four types to _fight_. I wouldn't try to fight this one. It's not that it can't be destroyed, it's just that there's no point."

As the students muttered comparisons of the battle scenarios to a video game, Present Mic made to finish up his speech. Izuku could only grit his teeth and glare at the show host, as if he'd just dared to insult All Might. This guy was lying through his teeth!

"As Napoleon Bonaparte once said: a hero is someone who overcomes life's misfortunes. Mmm-hmmm … now that's a tasty soundbite. Get ready to go beyond! Let's hear a PLUS ULTRA! Good luck! Hope you practiced hitting more than just books!"

* * *

 _ **U.A. High School Hero Course Practical Entrance Exam Battle Center D**_

Izuku stood strong in the crowd of examinees, in his green tracksuit, currently stretching out to pass the time. He took a moment to look around at the other students. Some of them looked like they were looking at the gates to the battle centers and seeing the golden gates. Oh, arrogance. He hoped at least some of them were seeing right. Humiliation was a crippling mistress. Among the faces in the crowd were a blonde boy with grey eyes who looked … rather calm, despite not appearing physically strong. There was a chance his quirk was an emitter type, or perhaps a transformation type with rather radical physical effects. Then he spotted another face. It was the girl from the entrance. She appeared to be keeping her eyes closed, her hands held in front of her as though in a deep prayer.

 _I should remember to apologize to her for running off,_ He thought, _After this exam._

Then he saw another, more familiar face.

 _Fucchan_? _Well, they underestimated us. They separated us based on schools, but they failed to consider we might have friends from other schools._ He walked over to the umbra-beast controller. _I should at least say hi._

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see the tall boy from earlier. "These people seem rather focused. What are you doing here? Trying to distract everyone?"

Okay, he and this elitist prick were gonna have a problem.

"Are you?" The green inheritor whispered so only the two of them could hear him. "You talk really loud, did you know that?" He gestured to the other applicants. "I'm surprised all the centers haven't heard you."

The boy turned to see the other applicants, to find they were all looking at him, and whispering.

"Hey, isn't that the private school looking kid from the orientation?"

"Yeah, the one who talked back to Present Mic and then flinched at the kid _he_ tried to call out."

"Probably thinks he's so much better than us, like this'll be a walk in the park or something'."

"I bet he doesn't even know what'll hit him."

"Lucky for us." They all agreed.

"See that?" Izuku said, walking off, leaving the guy stunned. "Now they've all written you off." Refusing to waste any more time, he activated One for All, allowing the lightning to run through his veins. He figured a real battle didn't have a countdown; he wouldn't get a warning for when this started.

{AND START!}

And with that, Izuku rocketed forward, vaulting over the crowd of students, and searching for targets.

The other applicants looked on in awe until Present Mic spoke up.

{What's wrong?! There are no countdowns in real fights! Run! Run! The die has been cast!}

After that, they stormed through the gates, but Izuku was already well ahead of them.

 **(Music: The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die. Start track at 0:47 mark )**

Izuku rushed in, lightning crackling off his body as his eyes scanned the streets for targets. Immediately, he spotted a trio of one-pointers heading down the street towards him. They lifted their heads, and looked straight at him. Without a moment's hesitation, they immediately pointed their appendages, and a hail of fire was unleashed where Izuku had just been standing. Up in the air, Izuku darted towards the robots mid-air. He reared his fist back and smashed the robot to the right of the trio. The one on the left attempted to melee him, but he ducked under it and kicked it into pieces. The last one turned around and thrusted an appendage forward at Izuku's body, but he simply _drifted_ to one side like he had anticipated it, and then slipped under it to jab it in its core.

Quirk 7: Flight – Application is obvious.

Quirk 4: Air Sensory – The user can control the air around them within a small radius, _specifically_ to sense incoming objects and attacks before they land. The user is limited to a radius of 3 feet (likely locked to that) and is enabled with a knee-jerk reaction based on the incoming attack or impact. This radius cannot be held for any more than 8 minutes a day, total. Going over this limit causes the user to start losing breath to the point of hyperventilation ... or suffocation. **(1)**

Izuku knew they would come in handy. He idly noted that the ammo the one-pointers had been firing were rubber bullets. It made sense; real villains fought back, and they didn't hesitate, like how these robots attacked on sight. This test might have been more spot-on to the real thing than he thought. Then he remembered where he was: in a limited area with a short amount of time with an uncertain number of targets. Time to collect points!

The next corner he turned around, he was treated to the sight of a student being bowled over by a stun laser from the tail of a two pointer, which was accompanied by another like it, four one-pointers, and a single three pointer. Taking action, he leaped at the largest target, and planted his foot straight at its head, finding satisfaction in hearing the hulking drone crunch down the middle. He turned his attention to the four one-pointers. He took one of the three pointers' launchers and tossed it at two of them, smashing them up. He slid under the third, landing a chop on the fourth, before turning his attention back to the third and grabbing at its head, ad tearing it in two. The pair of two pointers trotted forward, and attempted to stun him, but with an enhanced power spark, he resisted, he then darted towards them and lifted one above his head, then slammed it into its companion.

This pattern continued. He darted across the cityscape, smashing every target in sight. Occasionally, he absentmindedly noted a few students who were retreating from a pursuing hoard, and others still who were on the ground, unmoving. One of them even went spiraling off after a concussion missile from a three-pointer. Some unqualified students were more apparent than others.

A three pointer perched on a building top had its rocket pods ripped off, before it was then split in half. The two one-pointers that had been guarding it, were hit by inactive concussion missiles pulled from the pods.

On his way down from the building, Izuku met a pack of five two pointers crawling along the wall, and stomped on them successively like goombas.

Three two-pointers opened fire, and their assailant moved between them as though a green pinball, leaving them shattered.

Five one pointers in a v-formation fired at a target who had already dodged them, before they had been smashed by a three pointer that had been crunched into a ball.

A green streak cut through a three pointer like a razor, and barreled into four one pointers not too far behind it.

A two pointer was thrown off a roof, and ended up landing on a three-pointer, where its launcher followed it to find three one-pointers nearby, who were blown away by the overclocked (to 30%) shockwave caused by their assailant's landing.

 **(End Track)**

At the six minute mark, the ground shook, and Izuku knew the Zero-pointer had made its appearance. Seeing several students run off made it obvious the direction it was coming from. He got a good look at it, and it was monstrous! It's "eyes" seemed to gleam with the promise of destruction as its wandering hands tore off the tops of buildings with trivial effort, and the streets thundered with the noise of the exploding concussion missiles from the launchers mounted on its shoulders. He could hear the streets crumble underneath its massive treads ground the gravel back into dust.

Applicants in Izuku's area were running off as fast as they could, but he paused. How far could these monsters make it in six minutes? What kind of damage could they do, that could be prevented? Too many potential students would be lost in that time, hurt in what was just supposed to be a test.

The vine-haired girl, meanwhile, had decided the only way to truly avoid it was to try stopping it. Stretching her vines out as far as she cold towards the slowly approaching titan, and sent her vines into its shoulder and tread gears, hoping to slow it to a halt. Unfortunately, all she did was end up getting her vines ground up in the powerful gears, though it did indeed slow down, if only a bit. Panicking, she commanded the ends of her vines to detach, preventing her from getting pulled in.

The technological titan had decided this girl was an inconvenience, and fired a concussion missile straight at her. Panicking, she immediately threw up a vine barricade to block the shot.

*BOOM*

The entire thing was immediately blown to bits. As the smoke clears, the remnants of the botanical barricade are scattered across the streets, and the girl they belonged to was lying on her stomach.

Izuku's attention finally turns to her, and he realizes he's been standing by, while she's been acting. He's been indecisive. He had to act! He dashed over to where the girl seemed to be struggling to stand up, and lifted her off the ground with ease. "Can you stand?" He asked, gently trying to set her on her feet.

The way she shrieked when she tried to set weight on her legs made it clear. "No." She strained. "I think my … my right leg is broken." She ended up leaning on her less injured left leg, but she could not keep her balance.

He managed to catch her before she falls over and, seeing no other choice, carried her bridal style. He looks around and finds they were the only ones left who are in this area. Satisfied, he dashes straight to the entrance, where the other applicants appear to have gathered. "Can someone hold her for me?" He asks. "There's something I need to do."

The boy with the engine calves suddenly stepped out of the crowd. "I will hold her for you." Izuku hands the girl over to the taller boy, who looks at him curiously. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to stop that thing," Izuku answered, pointing to the slowly approaching robotic behemoth, "before anyone else gets too hurt." He turns his attention to the crowd of applicants. "Does anyone want to help me?"

…

…

…

"Anybody at all?"

…

…

…

The private school boy pushed up his glasses with a free hand. "*Ahem* I cannot speak for all of us," He said, "but I, unfortunately, cannot help you and hold this girl at the same time."

The girl in the British boy's one-arm grip looked at Izuku worriedly. "Wait, you're going back? To fight that thing?!"

"If it's not stopped, we could be closed in," Izuku said firmly, "and I'm not just worried about a few of us getting knocked out and disqualified. Now I ask again: is anybody willing to help me?!"

…

…

…

Izuku really couldn't believe they were trying to become heroes, not that he would say something so disrespectful out loud. "Fine, I'll just go then."

The vine haired beauty protested. "Please don't! You might not even stop it completely! It's too dangerous!"

"Of course it is!" Izuku stated. "If I wasn't willing to face danger head on, I wouldn't be hero material."

Without any hesitation, he immediately turned and activated One for All, zooming towards the destructive machine, charging up a sphere of blue flame in his right hand.

 **(2)** 9th Quirk: Kitsunebi – The user can fire blue spheres of flame that he can control mid-flight as though they were guided missiles. The spheres can be charged for added power, an are capable of chipping a boulder at their lowest. Firing too many spheres of too much flame leads to a drop in body temperature. This can be rectified by allowing the user's body temperature to rebalance itself over time. As for control, the user has direct control over the spheres as long as they are within a range of 5 meters, outside of which they fizzle out or combust. I can can create as many as 5 spheres at once. This Quirk … is _mine_.

Raising control up to 35%, Izuku jumped up against the side of a building, then jumps off to land on the robot's arm, and runs across it, and jumps to its face. At the last second, he transferred the flame to his right leg, where the strength increased immensely, and he went to 50%. He wound his leg back …

"CHIBA STAR-SHOT!"

… and blew the robot's head off with a fire-empowered roundhouse. The head flew everywhere, and the upper body was sent back with such force that it ended up doubling over onto its back.

Good, Izuku thought. That's that. As he landed, back at 15% and subtly using Flight to stop just an inch above the ground (as trying to use more power would only aggravate his injured leg further, which had its skin peeled off and three separate breaks), the other examinees looked on and commented in hushed voices.

"Who was that guy?"

"He just toppled that zero-pointer."

"He seems to have an enhancement-type."

"No wonder this guy doesn't take shit from anyone."

 _They're all missing the point._ The boy with the square-rimmed glasses thought rather intently. _Didn't they see? Despite everyone else running away, despite the threat that obstacle posed, he sought to actually defeat it, for the sake of the others. His remaining time, his lack of points, his own safety … he didn't even hesitate to figuratively throw them to the side. If this hadn't been an exam … of course I would have done the same thing!_ He would later on realize the insincerity in his mental claim and lead him to think a _bit_ about his actions up to that point as he compared himself to the real hero here. It would eventually motivate him to work harder than he had ever worked in his life. _Wait. Exam … the judges, they saw that._

As he was contemplating everything that had just happened, Izuku, still cloaked in green lightning, limped towards them on his leg, which he was slowly healing on his hidden broken leg.

Quirk 5: Regen – Enables user to quickly heal small wounds on themselves, but no deep cuts or large losses of flesh. Quicker healing leads to quicker loss of stamina.

Thank goodness his suit's leg hadn't burned off again, or they'd notice his leg was slowly going from broken and bruised to just fine enough that he stopped limping, thanks to One for All's glow enhancing and accelerating Regen's work.

"That was incredible." The girl commented, as Izuku walked up to them, while the engine boy simply gazed at him silently. "You really defeated it!"

"It's nothing." Izuku insisted, smiling at her. "I overtaxed myself a bit and I was only able to act because you stalled it."

The girl's cheeks took on a pink hue as she shied away from his gaze. "But I failed to truly do anything successful." She mumbled in protest.

"You did more than I did." The curly-haired inheritor insisted. "You acted first, and you motivated me to act as a result."

She was really not sure what to do here. She had been told in her life she was a positive individual, and she was no stranger to compliments, but this boy was more earnest than any their age she had met. "Um … you're welcome, I suppose." So she simply took what she was being offered.

"Alrighty, good work kids." Suddenly, recovery girl appeared, and began handing out gummy bears to students at random. "You're heroes in my eyes, every one of you. Go on and reward yourselves."

She approached the trio and turned to Izuku first. "You feeling alright, sonny?"

"Absolutely ma'am." Izuku answered with a smile. "I thought I had overtaxed my leg back there, but it's fine." He gestured to the female of the three. "Could you heal her, please? Her leg was broken when she almost got hit by a missile."

"Right on it, sonny-boy." She quickly extended her lips and let the faint green glow overtake the girl's body.

"Thank y- *yawn*." The girl was suddenly wobbling on her feet for a very different reason. "Oh my goodness, I'm tired."

"That's how her Quirk works." Izuku explained. "She technically just made you heal faster, as opposed to fixing you. You went through energy faster because of that." He walked off. "I have to go. I hope all three of us passed."

 _I see._ The taller boy thought. _If the exam is structured like that, then he …_

The girl meanwhile, mused silently to herself as she watched Izuku walk off. She probably had enough points to pass anyway …

* * *

 _ **One Week Later**_

 _ **Midoriya Residence, Living Room**_

Izuku was currently lifting a dumbbell, while waiting for his test results to come in. His thoughts lay with the last robot he'd attacked. _I know I got more than enough points to pass, but I still can't figure out the value of the Zero-pointer. Every bot had a merit and a purpose, or it wouldn't even be there. Destroying it has to have some kind of merit, besides taking away the one thing that scares all the students._ He idly turned his thoughts to his friends. _Micchan, Tsucchan and I hadn't told Eicchan or Fucchan about our … relationship. Honestly, what would we say? The truth is too risky._

Suddenly, his mother zipped into the living room entryway, a letter in hand, and a delighted shriek on her lips: "IT'S HERE!"

The two of them sat in the living room to look at the results together. Izuku Immediately tore the envelope open, revealing a small grey disc. Suddenly, a hologram appeared, displaying All Might in a gold suit with dark gold lines.

 **"I AM HERE, AS A PROJECTION!"** All Might was delivering his results? Oh, right, he was working at U.A. **"I'll cut right to the chase, Young Midoriya. First of all, you passed the written exam with flying colors! Congratulations! As for the practical, you attained a respectable 58 points in defeated villains. As that brings you into the top 36 scorers, this would be sufficient for you to pass. However…"** The Midoriya's held their breaths, wondering what held off success. Inko gripped her son's hand tightly as they awaited … news. **"There's more to it than that! I am also an entertainer, Young Midoriya! "** All Might pulled out a remote and, turning around, pointed it behind him, a screen appearing with an image of … the vine-haired girl? "Excuse me? I came to talk to you about a boy at the exam."

" **She came to negotiate with us in person just after the exam."** All Might explained.

The girl began describing him. "He had curly hair in green and black, and freckles. His eyes were green if I remembered correctly. He destroyed the Zero Pointer. And he shined when he did it! No even before that, there was no looking away from him!"

 _Wait,_ Izuku thought, _does she mean me? She thought_ _I_ shined _?_

"Is it possible to give him some of my points? I know he may have enough to pass, but he deserves them more than I do. He saved my life! I have to make it up to him."

" **You inspired others into action, in addition to keeping them safe."** All Might praised.

"Unfortunately," Present Mic stated, "we can't give him any of your points. No need to worry though, female listener."

All Might ended the recording.

" **You are more than merely the power you wield! A hero course that only accepts those who can fight? Pays no heed to those who help others? Perish the thought! Call that lip service? Fine by me! This job requires the risk of one's life to put that lip service into practice! So we have Rescue Points! A panel of judges observes the behaviors of applicants, and keeps a sharp eye out for heroic acts which earn various scores based on their own decisions! Izuku Midoriya, 90 Rescue Points! That gives you a total of 148 Hero Points! Acantha Euphemia, 70 rescue points! You pass at the top of this year's applicants, and if you wish to see your other potential candidates, you can see the list of the 36 future students who have passed in the last part of this recording."**

Izuku sat there, stunned. His mother simply sat next to him, tearing up.

The recorded Symbol of Peace held out his hand. **"Come, Young Midoriya! This is Your Hero Academia!"**

Izuku immediately dashed outside, ignoring his mother calling out to him, and, activating One for All, rushed out to an open area, and jumped around repeatedly, whooping in delight. He would go back to his house to his mother scolding him insincerely scolding him for running off like that, before she nearly strangled him in a hug.

 _ **Unknown time**_

 _ **U.A. Proctor observation deck (Otherwise Location Unknown)**_

Practical Scores Combat Points / Rescue Points **(3)**

Izuku Midoriya 58 / 90

Acantha Euphemia 62 / 70

Georgia Sherwood 54 / 70

Katsuki Bakugou 123 / 0

Fumikage Tokoyami 67 / 54

Eijiro Kirishima 62 / 58

Itsuka Kendo 49 / 70

Hector Anderson 99 / 17

Comhghall Reagan 59 / 55

TÖMÖR BAATAR 78 / 35

Qiang Ru 80 / 32

Derrick Page 66 / 45

Mina Ashido 60 / 50

Ju Wei 63 / 45

Pony Cornelius 67 / 40

Solomona Arnold 75 / 30

Simon Mathias 60 / 44

Tsuyu Asui 37 / 66

Ravenna Willow 58 / 43

Dior Beauregard 60 / 38

Leonard Albrecht 64 / 33

Hernando Salvador 45 / 50

Berk Yağmur 62 / 30

Thanh Lan 56 / 29

Alai Amets 55 / 24

Hjalmar Nikolaj 33 / 40

Minoru Mineta 31 / 40

Krishna Sanjit 48 / 22

Viên Trai 30 / 35

Morgan Yale 32 / 28

Oihana Izaro 36 / 21

Gabriel Elmar 40 / 16

Lin Fei-long 35 / 19

Nirengeki Shoda 32 / 20

Blair Lennon 16 / 35

Manga Fukidashi 31 / 18

"Check out the results for the exam."

"Bakugou Katsuki." A phantom-looking man in a trench coat noted. "Can you believe this kid got in the top five with zero rescue points?"

"He took down those faux villains like an ace." Present Mic said. "When other examinees were running from the big obstacle, he stayed focused on letting the smaller targets get close and then counter attacking. That kid's tough."

"*Tch*" A large, muscular man in crimson with fangs scoffed at this. "We get types like him all the time. He couldn't even stop the Zero-Pointer I'm more interested in the others. Did you see that kid Comhghall Reagan? It looks like he chased down whatever targets he could, then just … fused 'em together so they couldn't even operate right. He didn't even have a speed quirk, but he could keep up with the one pointers? He _worked_ to be here, and it shows in more types of strength than one."

"There's not much to be said for our runner up." Commented a woman in BDSM gear. "She simultaneously disabled the faux villains by either wrapping them up or just tearing through them _and_ shielded other applicants from attacks. She even tried to slow down the Zero Pointer in her area. She had complete control over the battlefield."

A short man in an excavation hat threw in his two cents. "The same could be said for the bronze. She seems to have some sort of anti-gravity quirk. She made the targets float up and waited until they were high up enough to come back down to earth with enough force to break. When that Katsuki kid came back down to earth after trying to destroy a Zero Pointer she timed it just right until she could break his fall."

"Ahm surprised by our sixth place." Said a man wearing a cowboy hat and a gas mask. "Her Quirk don't seem that effective, but she made the most of it with what are obviously martial arts skills. You don't see enough heroes with those nowadays."

"And then there's first place for this year." Said … a talking cement block. "When the zero pointer showed up in his area he went straight after it, after making sure all other examinees were cleared."

"It's not the first U.A. hopeful to take out the giant robot," present Mic noted, "but the last person to blow it away with a single attack will be graduating this year."

"It was stronger than any he'd used on the other faux villains, but it injured him, like he can only use so much power without consequence."

At the back of the room, a rather tired-looking man silently observed the recordings of this year's students.

 _ **Late night**_

 _ **Tagoba Municipal Beach**_

The night Izuku received his acceptance letter, he immediately called the others, to find they had all been accepted. Right after that, he had called his dad, who would be returning home within the next month. Izuku was even more ecstatic at that. He was currently headed down to the beach, where he had received a call from Jukei and Garrick to meet them.

He ran up to the beach entrance to find them standing on the shore. "Lamont-san! Jukei-sensei!"

The two turned to face Izuku, and smiled as he approached them. "Ah, young Midoriya." Garrick said. "Good to see you. On time as usual."

"Congrats on getting accepted." Jukei said softly, high-fiving his protégé. The man had a strange look on his face, like he had finally accomplished a life goal, and was simply waiting for the next step.

Izuku acted like he didn't notice.

"Just so you know," Garrick told Izuku, "I didn't tell the school about my connection to you or to Penance here."

"Hm?"

"You're the type that would think that's cheating, right? Neither of us were judges."

Izuku was grateful for that, to be sure, though surprised, since All Might was now employed there. "I was surprised when you told me you were working at U.A., you know. It explains why you came to this particular prefecture, since your Japan-specific agency is all the way in Roppongi in Minato, Tokyo at-"

"Getting creepy." Jukei interrupted.

"Anyway," The deflated Number One Hero continued, "I wanted to be sure no one else found out when I told you. I didn't want you to think I had ditched you when I ignored you for a week. I just happened to be offered the job at U.A. when I was searching for a successor."

"You were planning on selecting one of the other students." Izuku stated (Never say Tsuyu never rubbed off on him.). "Someone with an amazing quirk and prominent talent."

"Yes." The gaunt symbol of peace admitted. "But I doubt even the seniors would have been quite as suitable vessel for the power of the number one hero as you. And my choice turned out pretty _All Might_."

"I didn't even inherit your full power set." Izuku protested, ignoring the pun. "You could have a chance to give the rest to someone else."

"The way I see it, Young Midoriya," All Might said, picking up two spray cans and transforming into his hero form, crushing he cans effortlessly, **"it's practically yours to command already."**

"Izuku." Jukei said, getting his iridescent disciple's attention. "When you go there, remember everything I taught you. Be true to yourself, and no matter what anyone says, I know you'll do great things."

Izuku nodded solemnly, smiling softly. "Yes, sensei!"

" **Young Midoriya. Jukei-san."** The two turned to the Symbol of Peace, who's permanent smile seemed a little less sincere. **"I have something that must be said."** He did something no one was expecting; he got down on his hands and knees, bowed his head, and said:

" **I am truly sorry."**

"Eh?" It was the Backlash Hero who spoke. "For what?"

" **When we first met, I told Young Midoriya that he could not be a hero without a quirk."** All Might answered the regenerating pain stocker. He then turned his attention back to Izuku, who was looking at All Might with just a bit of shock. **"I was not only wrong, I was inconsiderate. I let my spite at my own predicament shape my judgement. As a hero, that is unacceptable. As the Symbol of Peace, even less so."** He then bowed his head again. **"I risked disheartening you, and I do not expect you to forgive me. You would be a magnificent hero, quirk or not."**

"I _do_ forgive you, All Might."

" **Eh?"** All Might lifted his head. **"You do?"**

"Of course." Izuku was beaming at his Idol. "You already took back what you said, back on the day we first met, the same day you said it. And honestly, I'm grateful to have been given your power. I didn't care about not having a quirk, becoming a hero just to prove it could be done, selfish though it may be. I wanted to be the kind of hero you are. And now, thanks to you, I can be the greatest hero! So please don't feel the need to regret what you said. Because next to everything you've said and done … it's trivial!"

All Might could only allow his grin to reach full genuineness as he got back to his feet.

"Yeah." Jukei said. "And for what it's worth, I bet you would've made a great hero either way yourself."

Before All Might could form a response, the three were noticed by a couple on the pier. "Holy Crap!" Said the guy. "It's All Might!"

"No way!" His girlfriend yelled. "When did he get here?! And is that Penance with them?"

" **Right."** The hero turned to Jukei and Izuku **"Now we run."**

"Yes sir!"

"Damn it, All Might!"

As the three of them took superhuman strides down the beach, All Might thought to himself. _**The torch I passed on to you is small. But in the future, it will be exposed to wind and rain, but it will only grow. By the end, you will wield a raging inferno. With time, my power will slowly grow weak and disappear, and I will retire, my job complete … yeah, that's deep.**_

He was not the only one accepting a fate, however.

 _My duty is complete. I can finally move on._

* * *

 _ **Three Weeks later**_

 _ **Heights Alliance, U.A. Dormitory Systems**_

Today was the day: Izuku would be sent out into the cold, dark world to fend for himself. He was currently hugging his mother tightly, stroking her back in an effort to quell her quiet sobs, before he would leave without feeling her heavenly embrace for some time.

"You have to call." She demanded through the tears. "Once every week, I want to know everything that goes on while you're here!"

"I promise, Mom." He slowly placated her.

"And when I text, you have to respond right away."

"I promise I'll text you instantly, Mom."

"And remember to eat healthy three meals a day."

"Okay, Mom. I will."

"Oh, my baby boy. I'm so, so proud of you."

Izuku grinned, and kissed his mother on the forehead. "I love you, Mom. I'll see you on the holidays."

She leaned out of the embrace to look at him with a watery smile. "Take care, Izuku."

As soon as she left, he was on his way into the building. He took deep breaths as he walked towards the dormitory buildings, where he saw a small crowd of over a dozen other students was gathered in front of … something he couldn't see. _This is it._ He thought. _These are the most promising students in not just Japan, but the globe._ He noted that he could see Tsuyu and Eijiro somewhere in the crowd, but Mina and Itsuka were out of sight, probably closer to the front, but he could see Fumikage at the back. He walked up to him. "Hey, Fucchan." He whispered.

"Izuku." Fumikage "smiled." "It is good to see you. Our apparent homeroom teacher has been making us stand idle waiting for us all to arrive." He gestured over the crowd. "Your appearance makes 18 of us."

Izuku attempted to look through the cluster of students when –

"It is you!"

Oh, great.

Izuku turned to his left – where he had heard the voice coming from – to see the engine kid from the exam walk towards him rather stiffly through the crowd.

Fumikage looked at Izuku inquiringly. "You are familiar with him?"

"I met him at the entrance exam." Izuku answered simply.

The private schooler stopped before them. "I am Hector Anderson from North London Collegiate School! It is nice to meet you, Midoriya!" He then turned to the hawk-headed darkness user. "You must be Fumikage Tokoyami. I am most pleased to make your acquaintance."

Izuku looked at him in confusion, before remembering his acceptance letter included the scores of everyone else who passed, and a profile image. "Uh, it's better to meet you, Anderson-san." Izuku said to the taller student. "Better than it was the first time, I mean. I'm sure you already knew this, but I'm Izuku Midoriya."

"Yes, I treated you most shamefully, I must admit." Oh? This kid was apologizing? "You realized there was something more to the practical exam, didn't you? You must be very perceptive, and I completely misjudged you." He wasn't the only one, the freckled teen thought "I must admit, as a student, you're far superior to me"

"Woah, that's going too far." Izuku said, putting a placating hand on the now named Hector's shoulder. "It doesn't mean I'm _better than you_. I'll admit I thought something was amiss," he confessed, "but I never actually figured it out for certain."

"Wait, but … then why did you put yourself in such danger, if you hadn't confirmed the merit behind it?"

"Euphemia-san was in danger." He said, simply, causing the named and newly arrived to blush, next to Bakugou, who was glaring at Izuku's back murderously. "I was just doing what a hero was supposed to. And for the record, I misjudged you too. I was just throwing up my natural reaction to confrontation." He bowed at the waist. "And I'm sorry for that. Turns out you're just really honest and diligent."

Hector looked at Izuku in awe. _He's … he's so ahead of me …_ Then he took a minute to register what Izuku had just said to him. _No … he said it himself; He was just doing as a hero would. I must be more considerate of others from now on. U.A. is not like other schools._

Behind them, Euphemia decided to power through her embarrassment, and address him. "And I have to thank you for that." At the new voice, Izuku and Fumikage turned to face her directly, to see her smiling calmly at him. "If not for you, I would have surely been hurt far worse. I'm so glad to see you made it in."

Izuku simply looked at her blankly, before surprising her and Hector – and no one else present – by getting on his hands and knees, and bowing his head. "I'm the one who should be thanking you." He said. "You spoke on my behalf. Because of what you told them, I even got more points." He got up and looked her in the eye earnestly. "I didn't just pass." He then took one of her hands in between his. "I excelled. I placed first thanks to you. I owe you."

Acantha flushed slightly at the praise this boy seemed to be just spraying out, though her expression did not change too much apart from relieving some of her surprise. "You don't need to feel you owe me!" She said, removing her hand from his freed grip. "You got me away from the robot … before I could get hurt much worse. It was the least I could do."

Izuku seemed to be holding eye contact with her while arguing with himself for a moment, before accepting her reassurance. "If you say so. Let's call it even."

"Agreed." Acantha said, still blushing a bit. "I am Acantha Euphemia. I am most pleased to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Euphemia-san. "I'm Izuku Midoriya. And this," he placed an arm around and unperturbed Fumikage. "Is Fumikage Tokoyami. A sagely friend of mind of nine years running. Don't let the edgy act bother you. He's a cool guy if you've ever known one."

"Charmed." The Shadow user got out, shaking Euphemia's outstretched hand. _Izuku seems to have charmed yet another maiden. I wonder how he will react to finding out about Tsuyu._ Even as the inheritor's close friend of almost a decade, it wasn't for him to speak openly with others about.

Izuku then turned to Katsuki, who glared back.

The two of them simply stared at each other, as they both thought back to their last confrontation.

* * *

" _I can't believe we have not one, but two students from our school heading off to U.A." Their homeroom teacher said. "Especially you, Midoriya. It's a miracle."_

" _There's nothing miraculous about it." The greenette retorted. "I worked hard, in spite of what you and everyone else thought, and look what happened. I hope you remember that."_

 _The two of them were now standing in an alley behind the school, staring at each other silently. Rather, Izuku was staring at Bakugou, who appeared to be hoping that Izuku would fall to Hell if he stared at the ground under him hard enough._

 _Bakugo started laughing shakily, his eyes covered by his spiky bangs. "Did you forget? I was supposed to be the first and ONLY student from this school to get into U.A. Figures you'd go and screw up my origin story." His laughing got louder "I warned you not to apply."_

" _And I told_ you _that you couldn't stop me, like it or not." Izuku retorted calmly. "I applied because I could be a hero. And now I can be an even better hero than before. So I hope you're ready, Bakugou Katsuki, because I'm going there to become it's crowning emerald, knocking you on your rear end every step of the way, if that's what it takes.."_

 _Bakugo's grin disappeared, and he brought his gaze up to look at Izuku with eyes so murderous the freckled boy thought they were actually glowing a bit. Instead of actually saying anything or lashing out, the explosive delinquent simply turned on his heel and stomped of, small sparks going off in his hand._

" _See you there, shithead!" He growled out. "Best believe you'll be seein' me!"_

* * *

"Looks like I'm seeing you after all, Kacchan. Now what?"

Katsuki said nothing, simply stalking over next to Izuku in the back of the crowd.

"Oh?" Acantha tilted her head at Izuku, looking like a lost puppy. "You know each other?"

"They go back even further than he and I do." Fumikage elaborated. "Too far, if you ask me."

"Well," Acantha said, "I wouldn't mind _us_ getting along."

"If your just here to make friends, you can turn on your heels now."

The group was silenced, as was the chattering of the rest of the students when a voice spoke out above them, yet sounding utterly bored. Izuku managed to get a look above the heads of his classmates, and was not sure to make of what he saw, except that he _might_ have been a teacher here. He was a middle-aged man, with oily black hair and dirty-looking black fuzz on his lower-face, and was carrying a yellow sleeping sack with him. He was wearing a long, thin gray scarf and dark pants and a dark sweater, hiding what he suspected was a strong, fit form underneath.

You didn't get into the hero course with anything less, impressive Quirk or not.

"Welcome to U.A.'s hero course."

Everyone simply stared in silence as the man took a juice pack out of the yellow sleeping bag, and downed it all at once.

"It took eight seconds for you all to calm down Time is precious. Rational students would understand that."

 _Who is this guy?_ Izuku pondered. _If he's here, that means he's a pro hero, but he looks so worn out. What's his deal?_

"I'm Sage Aisling, your homeroom teacher." The man introduced himself rather unceremoniously. "Right, let's get to it." He pulled what was most likely a U.A. gym uniform out of his sleeping bag. "Take your gathered belongings and place them in the common room for now. Then put on one of these and follow me."

* * *

"A quirk apprehension test!?"

Georgia was the one to voice her specific concerns. "What about the entrance ceremony? Or orientation?"

Their apparent homeroom teacher was quick to brush them off. "If you're gonna become heroes, you can't waste time on pointless events. U.A.'s selling point is its freestyle education system. That means I get to run my class as I see fit. You've been taking standardized test, I assume, but you've never gotten the chance to use you quirks in the physical exams. Schools like to pretend we're all equal by not letting those with the most power excel. It's not rational. The Ministry of Education will learn one day. Midoriya." The addressed straightened up further upon being called out. "You place 1st on the entrance exam. What was your highest record for the Softball Throw in Middle School?"

Izuku thought about it for a moment, then answered. "85 Meters." _Dark clothing … a strange scarf that looks like it isn't made of normal cloth … no … it couldn't be … all I'd need to sell it is the goggles …_

"Right." The haggard teacher walked up to him and handed him a softball. "Now try doing it with your quirk." He directed Izuku over to a chalk circle in the dirt, where he walked. "Do whatever you want, just stay in the circle." He walked over to the side of the class. "Oh." He turned back to the iridescent-haired boy. "And if I suspect you're holding back, you can kiss your place here goodbye. We're doing this to gauge your limits, what you are and aren't capable of. I will not have anyone disrespecting that by just barely scraping by. You're here to Go Beyond Plus Ultra. Try to respect our standards." With finality in his tone, he shuffled away and turned to properly observe Izuku, pulling a small rectangular device out of his pocket.

Izuku meanwhile, had finally figured out the very likely identity of his homeroom teacher, and understood his threat about holding back was serious, not that he would have anyway, since he wholeheartedly agreed. _I can only use 15 percent._ He mused. _But if he's about to filter us out, I have to get as high of a score as possible. I have to make a statement._ He thought about it for a moment. Thirty-five percent, he decided, should be enough to make it to the top; it was pretty much all he could handle, but it also made him feel like his bones would snap at any moment. His classmates looked on in disturbed fascination as he muttered to himself at inhumane speeds.

"Any day now." Aisling commented.

With a plan of sorts, Izuku let the glow of One for All channel throughout his body, at a straining 35 percent. His body twisted back around, and as his shoulders returned to parallel with his hips, he flicked his right arm like a catapult. A huge gust of wind sent several students recoiling from the pressure and almost falling over. Katsuki, who was used to dealing with shockwaves, merely gaped openly at the display of power.

"All of you need to show your maximum capabilities first." Aisling said. "It's the most rational way of showing your potential as a pro." He then showed the small screen in his hand, which showed the ball had been thrown 3.85 kilometers, beyond even the campus grounds.

"2.86 kilometers? Are you serious?" said a blonde American boy with a black streak in his spiky hair.

"Holy cow," Mina exclaimed, "this looks like fun!"

Goddammit, Mina.

"We can use our quirks as much as we want? That's the hero course for ya!" said a Spanish kid with a flat face and large teeth, with elbows that looked a lot like tape dispensers.

"I can barely contain my own excitement." Said a blonde British boy with grey eyes and a calm, normal face.

"HEY!" Katsuki suddenly charged towards Izuku, palms raised. "DEKU, YOU BASTARD! TELL ME HOW YOU DID THAT OR YOU'RE DEAD! Izuku readied himself to intercept, up he never got the chance, as Katsuki found his torso tangled in … his teacher's scarf?! And his palms weren't sparking?! The exploding blonde struggled; turning his head barely enough to see his teacher's eyes had become an intense glowing red, and his hair was floating, standing straight above his head. "Wh-what the hell?! Why's your scarf so strong?! Why can't I use my quirk?!"

"To answer in reverse, I erased your quirk. And the scarf is a capture weapon made from carbon fiber woven together with wire mad of a special alloy."

Izuku, seeing his teacher in action, as well as a pair of yellow goggles that had been concealed beneath it, now knew who he was without a doubt. "Oh my god!" He said. "I knew it! Those goggles! That scarf! Your Quirk! You're the Erasure Hero: Eraserhead!"

[Sage Aisling\ Eraserhead]

[Quirk: Erasure]

[He can erase the quirk of anyone he looks at. But the effect ends when he blinks.]

There was muttering over their teacher's identity, but Izuku, taking a not from the now-revealed hero, paid it no mind. This confirmed his fears: someone was getting sent home in shame!

"That sort of transgression will not be tolerated here, Bakugou Katsuki. Try anything like this again, and you're getting sent home too, regardless of where you place." Katsuki continued to struggle in vain against the deceptively powerful fabric. "It would be wise to not make me overuse my Quirk; it gives me serious dry eye."

 _Too bad_ , everyone thought. _That's such an amazing quirk._

Reluctantly, Katsuki stopped struggling, and the now identified Erasure Head let him go. Katsuki fumed over to the group, all of whom slightly inched away from where he was standing. Aisling, meanwhile, turned towards his set of twenty burdens with an unimpressed look.

"So, this looks like fun, huh?" He said. "You have four years to become a hero. You think it's all gonna be games and free time?" He smirked ominously "Idiots. Today you'll compete in ten physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever ends up with the lowest overall score will be determined as having zero potential and be expelled."

Most of the class gasped at this.

"Like I said, I get to decide how this class runs." He lifted his bangs with his free hand, a creepy smile stretched out across his face. "Understand? If that's a problem, you can go home right now."

"Last place will be expelled?" Georgia yelled indignantly. "It's the first day of school! No, even if it wasn't the first day of school this is too unfair!"

"Do you think natural disasters are fair?" Aisling retorted. "Or power hungry villains, or catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities? No! The world is full of unfairness. Heroes are the one who reverse these situations. If you wanna be a pro, then you're gonna have to push yourself to the brink. For the next 4 years, U.A. will push one hardship after the other on you. So go beyond; Plus Ultra." He made a beckoning finger towards his students. "Show me it's not a mistake that you're here."

Hector took a sip from a water bottle he had apparently been carrying. _I don't approve of this hazing._ He thought. _However, U.A. is the undisputed number one hero program. I have no choice._

 _I'll blow all these losers away!_ Katsuki thought. _Especially Deku! He was supposed to just be a bug. Just something for me to smash into the ground!_

Izuku simply looked to his classmates sympathetically. He really didn't want to see any of them go, but unless their homeroom teacher made a compromise – which never happened – or he just so happened to be imitating him – even _less_ likely – one of them wasn't going to get to stay. He couldn't help but wonder who.

"Hey," a voice from behind him spoke up, prim and mature for its owner's probable age, "are you alright? You seem to have something on your mind."

Izuku didn't turn to face the person, lest he lose focus taking in their identity. "I don't want to see anyone have to go home in disgrace, but our teacher is one hundred percent serious. I can only feel sorry for whoever ends up dead last."

The voice scoffed. "Oh, come on. You must have some idea. No one's really getting expelled."

"I don't know what you've founded this idea on, ma'am," he responded to the voice, registering it as female, "but I wouldn't be so sure. As you just found out, our teacher is the Erasure hero: Eraserhead."

"I've never heard of such a hero before." The voice said. "What does his identity have to do with the sureness of his threat?"

"Everything. You've never heard of him because he doesn't _want_ you to. He considers media to be a hindrance to hero work. Those who do know him know him for two things: his rare power to negate other quirks … and his uncompromising attitude. If he says he'll expel one of us, it would take something truly impressive from the bottom ranker to make him change his mind."

He didn't hear an answer at first. Then … "Whatever you say, I suppose." Satisfied, he walked off. "We'll see what happens, then." Whoever this person was, they clearly didn't back down on their opinions until proven otherwise. Izuku could respect that.

"All right," the teacher spoke, "demonstration is over. The real thing starts now."

* * *

 **Trial 1: Softball Throw**

The first person up after Izuku was Hector, who surprised everyone when his engines fumed up as he threw the ball. Izuku suddenly remembered what he had learned from studying Ingenium's Quirk, along with studying actual engine's. A regular engine does more than just make a vehicle go fast, it _powered_ the vehicle. Why should a Quirk that gave a person an engine operate any differently? Anderson's engines _dramatically boosted his physical abilities_. Speed was just a particular, since the engines were placed on his legs. Itsuka followed up, using her enlarged hand to throw the ball further, flicking her wrist at the end so that the ball would be launched off of her fingers as she effectively rolled the ball in her sideways hand. Tsuyu used her tongue to sling the ball, which turned out to be more effective than simply using her hand.

Her trick was copied by a tall, lean, Spanish boy with large teeth and black hair, who ejected – tape? – from cylinders on his elbows to sling the ball through the air, though it proved to be less effective than some other tricks. Following him was Fumikage, who simply gave the ball to dark shadow and allowed him to throw it for him.

Some did things to modify the ball being thrown rather than enhancing their pitch. One such student was a boy with white hair and a grey eye on the right side of his face, and red hair and a blue eye on the left side of his face, simply launched the ball off of a pillar of ice.

As Georgia walked back to the group after her own ace of infinity, she was approached by a blonde boy with grey eyes and white pupils, who was looking much calmer than any of the others probably were. "Hello," he said, extending a hand, and wearing a serene smile, "I'm Solomon Arnold. I hope we can get along this year."

"Uhhh…" Unsure of what else to do, she reciprocated and shook his hand. "I hope we can get along too. Are you sure you'll pass?"

The boy called Solomon simply smirked at her. "Oh, I think I'll do just fine, thanks to you." Before she could ask what he meant, he walked over to the circle, took the ball in hand, and threw it … and it floated off. Georgia was the most shocked out of everyone. That was exactly what _she_ had done! When she turned to look at the boy, she could only gape as he smirked and raised his hand up, revealing on each of his fingers, brown pads just like the ones on her fingers. "See? I told you I'd pass with your help." Suddenly, the pads seemed to sink into his fingers where they disappeared, as if they had never been to begin with.

"That was impressive," Aisling commented from the side. "However, since I can't put infinity on the scoreboard as this is a rank-based test, I'll simply make her score higher than the top numeric score of an actual number. I'll have to put yours just below hers since all you did was imitate."

The blonde didn't seem too bothered. "I suppose it can't be helped." He shrugged with his hands, still smiling. "Still, you've got to admit, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

[Solomon Arnold]

[Quirk: Mimic]

[This slick dude can copy any other 3 Quirks at once for a total of ten minutes, just by touching their users. This time can be increased based on how few Quirks he's actually using. This guy is a Jack of all trades, lacking in none!]

As the copier moved back to the group, Izuku zipped in front of him, pretty much bouncing on the tips of his toes. "You can copy other people's quirks?! That is so cool! You're gonna give villains a taste of their own!"

Solomon, who was not expecting such praise, was caught just a little bit off guard. "I, uh … uhm … uh … thank you …"

"Izuku! Midoriya Izuku!"

"Thank you Izuku. I …" The couldn't believe he was saying this sincerely. "Look forward to our time together."

Acantha went up next, using her vines as though they were a huge catapult, and flung the entire thing to send the ball flying with a swish.

Everyone was surprised when a tall, well-endowed German girl with a high black ponytail pulled a cannon out of seemingly nowhere and used it to launch the ball, which ended up going even further than Bakugo's. From what he could tell … she had created that.

Izuku realized he may not have been keeping as sharp an eye on the competing students as he had thought. He'd need to change that. He also recognized her as the one who must have been standing behind him right before the tests began officially, talking to him over his shoulder.

He broke out of his thoughts in time to see an intimidatingly tall boy with six arms with webs in between them use the three on his right to throw the ball. The boy had grey hair that swooped over his face, and his black eyes were on the sides of his slightly elongated head.

An American boy with blonde spiky hair with a black streak in it took the ball, and was suddenly coated in electricity. But before anyone could say anything, it just as quickly disappeared beneath his skin. Then, his hair spiked up, and any sharp eyes could see bolts dancing through it, as he threw the ball. It ended up landing much further than anyone had anticipated.

 _Ahh I get it._ Izuku thought. _He's got some form of electricity Quirk. He simply used it as an energy source to amplify his physical strength. But I wonder by what factor._

Not everyone had Quirks that could be applied to this event as it turned out. Mina, Eijiro, a Korean girl with earphone jacks for earlobes, a French boy with long blonde hair and shining violet eyes, as well as a slim build, and invisible girl (if the floating gym uniform was any indication), and a disturbingly small kid with – purple spheres on his head?- all had to rely on their physical prowess to pass. It went without saying that some here would not be able to directly incorporate their Quirks into their performances. Izuku hoped they would be able to pass based on physical fitness alone. After all, he would have had to have been in their shoes at one time.

* * *

 **Trial 2: Upper Body Strength**

Everyone did this event together, essentially amounting to being ranked based on the order in which they give out from doing sit-ups. Most students pretty much used their raw fitness to get through this one, with the exception of Tenya, who's engines were letting out fumes the whole time. Other such outliers were Acantha and Fumikage, who used their vines and Dark Shadow respectively to move the equipment with ease.

Izuku proudly took the gold for his event, though, going on long after everyone had tired themselves out. One for All gave him access to a virtually unlimited source of restorable stamina, and he had been able to convert incredible strength into seemingly endless endurance with a simple bit of focus.

Because he went on for such a long time, Aisling decided to simply give him a score of infinity and get them moved on to the next trial.

* * *

 **Trial 3: Standing Long Jump**

It went without saying that Tsuyu passed this one incredibly, apart from being almost matched by the German girl, who used a pair of spring boots to pass right over the marked area. Izuku also matched her, using his 35% to outdo both of them.

Acantha surprised everyone when the vines on her head slithered, crawled under her feet, and carried her clear across the gap, forming an arch behind her. Her trick was more or less copied by the boy with the bi-colored hair had more or less copied her move by forming ice under his feet, apparently with only the right side of his body, and creating an arch that carried him further across the jump track.

The blonde electrician repeated his trick from the softball throw, this time spiking his leg muscles enough to increase his jump by leaps and bounds. "No pun intended, right?" Right.

Itsuka had flung herself across with both of her enlarged hands, not making a particularly impressive score, but greater than if she had simply jumped.

Tenya did as Izuku had suspected, and used his engines to spring himself across. Well, what're you gonna do when it gets predictable? Georgia surprised everyone when she jumped and placed her fingers together in midair, allowing her to float most of the way across. Fumikage used his strange shadow creature to harpoon himself across, though it didn't get him very far.

Solomon tapped Georgia again, but instead of simply jumping an then activating his mimicked Quirk, he crouched, pressed his fingers like she had, and leaped forward. He cleared every sandbox … and then realized that without gravity, he couldn't really slow down or stop, as he headed towards a supply shed.

"No, no, no, nonononononoNONONO-"

*BUNK*

…

…

On the bright side, he got first place.

* * *

 **Trial 4: Weight Lifting**

If Izuku had not met Georgia sooner, he would have been surprised like the other students that she had dominated this event, as she made five one-ton weights float, suspended in midair. She was grateful to him that he had gotten a bucket for her to vomit into.

Everyone was shocked when the two-toned boy lifted seven one-one weights using a platform of ice. It seemed Georgia wasn't even top dog here, much to her chagrin.

Fumikage allowed Dark Shadow to lift the weight, seemingly unaffected as his decidedly unique Quirk lifted 850 kilograms up and down, its entire body moving save for the part of the stem with its master at the base.

Kendo followed up by lifting 700 kilograms in a bench press.

The giant six-armed boy bench pressed a pair of 1200 kilogram weights, naturally, and Eijiro seemed to be locked in a lifting contest with the exact same amount, except he was using his hardening to his advantage to take away the strain. And it worked. For a while.

Acantha used her thorny green locks as appendages to lift several dumbbells which amounted to 1700 kilograms in weight, and left them suspended in place amongst her tangles.

Izuku's lifting routine ended up being a repeat of the upper body test, as he used two one-ton weights on the sides of a dumbbell and simply did several bench presses, even passing Georgia's score.

* * *

 **Trial 5: 50-meter Dash**

This event saw two students each run side by side. First up were Mina and the electricity boy, who coated himself in lightning, allowed I to go under his skin, and _zipped_ along the track. Mina, on the other hand, secreted acid from the soles of her feet, which had slickness but no solubility, and used it to practically glide across the track, to the finish line. Izuku smiled a knowing smile. She _had_ been practicing.

Izuku was up next, partnered up with the six-armed giant of a boy. Getting into sprinting position and charging his body with his straining 35%, Izuku took off, a green streak of light, passing the finish line in a record 0.97 seconds. Next to him, the blond copycat had already tapped Iida, and sped across, coming in just behind Izuku.

Acantha had once again proven her versatility with her supposedly binding-specific Quirk by making her vines into a platform, while the vines continued to grow out from her head, until they looked like a snake posed for killing. The long structure then proceeded to slither across the track with surprising speed, right ahead of her partner, who was Tsuyu, leaping across the track in a single bound.

No one was surprised to see Iida take this event by storm, his engines flaring up in large blue flames as he dashed across in 0.48 seconds. Izuku walked up to congratulate him.

The bi-color haired boy had created a track of ice along which to slide, which turned out to be more effective than Mina's slide if the score was anything to go by.

"That was amazing, Iida-kun!" He commented. "Not surprising. Was that your full speed?"

"Fifty meters is too short for anything past third gear." Iida grumbled in response. "But in order to embody the ideology of Plus Ultra, I had to look past my petty manners and, well…" the two of them turned to the track to see that Iida had left rather deep scuff marks on his side of the track. "Heroes must make sacrifices, I suppose."

The tall German girl from before produced a rocket-powered bicycle, and blasted right ahead of her partner Katsuki, who was absolutely furious at being bested.

Acantha, surprising no one, wrapped a couple of vines around her grip meter, and then, surprising everyone, even Izuku, scored 927 kilograms with their strength.

The German creation girl, once again producing items from seemingly nowhere, created a deceptively strong JAWS OF LIFE mechanical clamp, squeezing the non-existent life out of it.

Eijiro hardened his compressed hand around the grip, increasing the pressure considerably, and reaching 820 kilograms.

The girl with the earphone jack ears had wrapped her jacks around the grip, as well as her dominant hand, and squeezed with all three at once. It was creative, even if not effective; 83 kilos.

On the other hand, the ice-boy did something nobody expected: he coated his grip in ice – without freezing the grip – and manipulated the ice into squeezing tightly around the device, getting 1,102 kilograms out of it!

Fumkage handed his grip meter to his creature, and the living shade held onto it with both hands, and scored an impressive 843 kilograms.

Motivated further, he put all the strength he had into squeezing the grip, going 20%, 25%, 35% , 40% ...

And then the device exploded before he could strain himself too much, gaining the attention of the three nearby. He smiled sheepishly.

He looked over to Itsuka and was surprised to see her squeezing the device by its sides … and it wasn't breaking! Then he took a moment to look at the device, and realized the sides where covered in the same rubber as the grip itself. He really should have expected this from U.A.: they were designed in such a way that size-based Quirk users could use them too. He doubted All Might could fit _his_ hand in one of these.

* * *

 **Trial 7: Sustained Side Jumps**

Everyone was surprised to see the small kid with the spheres on his head make an impressive score in this one. He had pulled several of the spheres out of the top of his head (they all grew back, as it turned out, just as quickly as they were pulled off), created two piles that seemed to stick together on each side of him, and bounced himself in between them until he was sick. Izuku idly thought it would be likely, trying as hard as he was to be fair, that this kid was on the lower section of the results before this little trick.

The inheritor of one for all was not to be outdone, however, and moved side to side with so much speed and force it caused him to dig into the ground. He inevitably had to stop, as he could feel his bones beginning to come undone faster than his One-for-All enhanced Regen could repair, not to mention he was digging deep enough into the ground that he was in waist deep

The tall girl, meanwhile, had created her most bizarre device yet, which looked like a thin platform with an engine off to the side. It also included foot straps to keep her from falling off. Everyone was actually rather amused to see this device was made for the sole purpose of moving her side to side as she held onto the bars. Hopefully, Izuku thought, it was worth the nausea.

* * *

 **Trial 8: Seated Toe Touch**

One for all could not be applied here, (not many Quirks could) not that he needed it desperately. Izuku had never been more grateful for Jukei-sensei's flexibility training than he was right now. Even though he wasn't top marked there (How was he supposed to compete with someone who could extend their limbs?), it made him realize he was wise to sacrifice some strength training for proper gymnastic ability, especially since his fighting style would likely depend on it. It was anther event with everyone going at once, based on who dropped out behind whom.

* * *

 **Trial 9: Punching Machine**

The French student simply fired his laser at the punching target and ended up scorching it more than he did put force into it.

Kendo was almost grateful that she was likely to get an above-average score on this one, until she saw Bakugou smack the machine with an enormous explosion, and then she realized she was about to be slammed _here_ , too. It only got worse when the vine-haired girl ... who's Quirk was clearly suited towards _binding_ … used the ends of her vines as a mace by curling them into a ball and slammed them into the target simultaneously. _That_ was just upsetting.

The British heterochromia boy simply sent ice towards the target as he formed the large chunks from underneath it. The entire machine was jarred from the impact, which seemed to say something. Not even Bakugou had managed to shake the device.

Eijiro simply hardened his entire body and threw a full-body punch at the target.

The creation girl used the same canon from the softball throw on the target, and crushed the target. Spares exist for a reason, after all.

Izuku decided not to be out done this time, thus motivating him to strike the target dead center with a spin kick, smashing it in twain.

Aizawa's glare told him that _might_ have not been a good thing.

Hey, he still placed first though.

* * *

 **Trial 10: Endurance Run**

This one went a great deal like the upper body exercises. The only difference being that he German girl had created an electric bipedal to avoid exhausting herself. But this was a Quirk apprehension test, and damn it all if Izuku was going to lose to a piece of machinery. He wasn't exactly in trouble here. The vast energy supply from One for All, combined with the solar energy gained thanks to power spark and the extra air inhaled as a result of his Gale Force breath, let him go on for hours.

Sixth Quirk: Gale Force – The user is able to breathe gusts of wind with strength on par with its namesake. Use is limited by user's lung capacity. Cover your mouth when sneezing! User can also inhale large amounts of air, as well as whatever's in it. Too full lungs can lead to hyperventilation. Properly filled lungs allow for additional stamina, unless of course the user would rather spit a tornado.

That is to say, he was still going on when the German girl had just given out after her bipedal had actually run out or power, panting for breath, and Aisling had the foresight to stop this madness.

"Since you still have enough in you to keep going, we'll just place you in first. That's enough."

Izuku thought so too, looking back at his exhausted classmate.

* * *

After the test were finished, the class stood before their homeroom teacher, most nervously anticipating their results. After a moment, the man spoke, sounding bored as ever. "I'm just going to show your overall results right now, because we'd be here all day if I show your individual scores." Pointing his remote off in a direction of what was apparently a hologram screen, he displayed the results of the apprehension tests, which followed as such.

1\. Izuku Midoriya

2\. Nicola Wilhelm

3\. Samuel Brenton

4\. Hector Anderson

5\. Solomon Arnold

6 Katsuki Bakugo

7\. Acantha Euphemia

8\. Fumikage Tokoyami

9 Itsuka Kendo

10\. Simon Mathias

11\. Georgia Sherwood

12\. Eijiro Kirishima

13\. Tsuyu Asui

14\. Derrick Page

15\. Mina Ashido

16\. Alaia Amets

17\. Hernando Salvador

18\. Dior Beauregard

19\. Than Lan

20\. Minoru Mineta

Izuku took in the score on the board. In truth, he didn't feel these scores would reflect their progress all that accurately, but he thought about how he had scored first in the practical entrance exam. And he had done it again here. Was this what people would continue to expect of him? To be at the top constantly? Living up to those expectations wouldn't be easy. _But I won't have to do it alone._ He thought, looking to his friends, and then to where All Might probably was, inside the school building. _I've got people to push me upward, towards those heights everyone will come to expect from me._

Mina huffed at her results while Fumikage was congratulating Eijiro, and Tsuyu simply croaked. The electric kid threw his head back in frustration, and the six-armed boy, the two-toned cryokinetic, and the German girl did not react visibly. Hector pushed up his glasses, and Acantha smiled in satisfaction. Itsuka wasn't too bothered, as compared to Georgia, who seemed to be fidgeting slightly. The tape-boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, and the ear-jack girl huffed, though more quietly than Mina.

Katsuki was absolutely fuming! Not only did he not even get into the top 3, he got sixth! And behind Deku _again_?! No matter. These results wouldn't mean shit when they went against one another directly. He'd blow everyone to bits! He turned to Solomon, who looked back at him as he sensed someone else looking at him … and the bastard just smirked, and shrugged _. And I'll start with the fucker who managed to just come out over me._

"Well, that will be all for today." The homeroom teacher said. "Your curriculum documents are back in your classroom. Review them thoroughly. Oh." He suddenly turned to the shortest among the students, who was sweating profusely. "Mineta Minoru, you are hereby expelled from U.A. High. Head back to the dorms and grab all your belongings. If you want, you can go talk to Administration about trying your luck with general studies. Or don't. Either way, feel free to keep the uniform; I doubt it'd fit anyone else." He then turned to the other students. "Let it be known that since there are now only nineteen students, the empty position will be replaced with someone who will transfer in from class B." **(4)**

The tall girl's eyes widened in surprise.

"B-b-b-b-but Y-y-you can't be serious!" The diminutive teenager protested. "T-t-tell me you're joking!"

"Nope." Was the remorseless answer. "I told you, last place would be deemed as having zero potential here, and you placed last. If that will be all, you're free to go."

Against her better judgement, the girl walked towards the Erasure Hero, spoke out – "Sir, you can't-…" and was promptly rooted to where she stood by his _suffocating_ glare.

For a moment, no one said anything. Then, contrary to his previous bored tone, Sage spoke with undisputed authority. "I cannot what, miss Wilhelm? Please, continue."

Nicola took several seconds to gather her voice together, and even then, it was shaky and unsure. "Y-Y-You c-can't just ex-expel students like th-that. We've worked to get here…"

"I thought you of all people would have been paying attention, Nicola Wilhelm. I _said_ , whoever scored last would be expelled. What, did you think I was lying? You think I planted some rational deception, just to push everyone to give it their all?" When she simply nodded her head enough for him to notice, too afraid to speak, he sneered. "How naïve. I don't believe in lying to my students. How else am I going to get any of you to trust me? Mineta Minoru is the one-hundred-and-fifty-fifth student I have expelled in my time at this institution. That includes a whole class the previous year that I deemed too lazy and too arrogant to have any hope." At this, Nicola covered her mouth with one hand in shock, taking a step back. "As the results show, Mr. Mineta did not have any potential to be the kind of first-rate heroes we teach you to be here, nor did he have a very good motivation, if 52 counts of sexual offense on his record are anything to go by." Suddenly, the girls of the class were much less sympathetic. "You think it was cruel of me to crush his hopes like that? If _any_ of you had scored last, or I thought you had _no_ prospects, I would have done the same. It would be crueler to let him keep chasing a dream that would never come true."

Nicola remained silent at this. There really wasn't a single thing she could say to refute anything he said.

Aisling turned to the rest of the class, and stared them down. "That applies to each and every one of you. If I think you're slacking, or that you simply don't belong, I will not hesitate to kick you out." Surprising everyone, he glanced slightly to the tall girl. "You're not in the clear either, Wilhelm, just because you placed so high. This little stunt is going to cost you. Question my methods again, and I'll have to deal with the paperwork for _two_ replacement transfers. If you want to get that small amount of trust I had in you back, you'd better be willing to work hard." He looked back at the rest of the class. "Any questions?"

"N-no sir!"

"Good." He then sauntered off. "Don't lose your curriculum sheets. I'm not making copies. If you thought today was unfair, you don't have a hope in hell for tomorrow."

With that he was gone. The now named Nicola had suddenly lost the feeling in her legs, and had dropped to the ground. It was ironic, Izuku thought, as he tried to help her get back on her feet. One of the top scorers on this test had been brought to her knees so easily. But it was expected, as far as he was concerned. Erasure Head was a spook socially and a demon on the field. He did not compromise, and very few heroes could _ever_ argue him down from his own point. A first-year student on the first day didn't stand a chance.

* * *

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"

The day had pretty much ended after the apprehension test. Everyone was now at the lockers getting ready to go back to the dorms, not nearly as lively as they had been when they had gotten there. Izuku had decided to try and do something for the student who had been expelled so abruptly, Minoru Mineta, if he remembered his name. The purple haired(?) stranger turned to him sluggishly. "What do _you_ want?" Izuku was prepared for this person to be upset over this. He could do this.

"*Sigh* Look, there's no need to get upset-"

"That's easy for you to say."

Izuku huffed. "No, it isn't."

"… Huh?"

"I'm a late bloomer." Izuku said briefly. "If it wasn't for the fact that I had already done a ton of physical training, I wouldn't be able to handle any of this power, because I would have spent my life being depressed over being Quirkless. And the only reason I scored so high was because I went way over what my body could actually handle." He was taking an awfully big risk to help someone out, he knew, but he really didn't need to expose a great deal about "his" Quirk to make his point. "Look, your chances at being a hero aren't gone. Like Aisling-sensei said, you can talk to Administration about applying for General Studies."

"How will that help? Aren't those students just there to have a small shot at sidekick for life?"

Izuku had endured Bakugo's taunts and belittlements his whole life. He was infinitely too patient to let such a disrespectful comment deter him from helping. "Maybe they don't all have a shot at going pro or even being heroes, but the truth is, not everyone has combat-oriented Quirks that work in such a short-sighted test. A lot of students with such Quirks normally apply for general studies knowing this and wait until the annual U.A. Sports Festival."

Mineta's confusion was so obvious. "Wh … What does that do for them?"

"Based on how they perform in the festival, the staff considers moving them into the hero course. From what I've seen, your Quirk is much better used practically than for physical tests. You would do very well in the festival, definitely well enough to make an impact on the heroes scouting out sidekicks." A hopeful look adorned Mineta's face, and Izuku was quick to tell him the other half. "But be warned, since you're behind, that means you'll have to work harder than anyone else. If you want to make it in the hero course, you'll have to take Aisling-sensei's words to heart and work and be ready to run yourself through the wringer."

Silence hung in the air as the smaller of the two ingested Izuku's words. When he thought about it, it was true. This was the best school after all. If they were to endure being worked to the bone, they'd have to have worked hard even before that. He clearly hadn't been working as hard as he should have, but hope wasn't lost.

"Work harder…" He thought aloud. "O-okay th-th-thanks, I…. could… could you give me a minute? I… I just need to… thank you."

Letting a satisfied smile grace his lips, Izuku nodded and left the boy to his thoughts. "Hey wait!" Before Izuku could leave the locker rooms, the boy called out to him one last time. He turned to look at him. "I'm…uh… I don't know if we'll see each other again but … I'm … I'm Mineta Minoru. What's your name?"

Izuku smiled. "Midoriya Izuku. I wish you the best of luck, Mineta-kun."

"T-thanks Midoriya." Mineta said, trying his best to put on a determined face. "I-I'll try to not let it go to waste."

With that, Izuku nodded at him and head out of the school building. He quickly caught up to the rest of the class, who was standing in front of Aizawa again, who was elaborating further on the dormitories.

"This is where you will be staying after class hours." The disgruntled began. "Your curfew is at 10pm and breakfast and lunch will be served in the cafeteria, unless you get permission otherwise. Dinner is your responsibility. Leave all your juvenile problems until after classes so none of you are my problem anymore."

Some students giggled at this. Mina was bold enough to openly laugh.

Their teacher glared at them.

They all silently stood at attention.

"Since your first day here is done, get settle into your rooms, and try not to do any property damage. And expect your new classmate in before the day is over. I'm going back to sleep."

When the students walked in, they were greeted with the sight of a massive common room, with a kitchen and dining room sized to match. The last two were bare, but had big refrigerators, freezers, three stove/oven combinations, and four microwaves. One of the coffee tables had a thick stack of papers on it After each taking one, the students discovered they were maps of the building. Quarters for boys and girls were separated. There was a laundry room for clothes and study rooms that seemed soundproof for use. The dorms had separate bathrooms big enough for a sauna, which they did have. After careful study, they each went to where their respective rooms were designated. **(5)**

Izuku had just finished with setting up his room (Thank goodness he'd been able to fit all of his merchandise into his luggage. It was too close to his heart.), when he heard a knock on the side of his open door frame, and saw Mina and Itsuka standing there, the former smirking at his decked out room while the latter gaped slightly. They had kept in contact, but she had never gotten a proper look at his room.

"Dude," the martial artist managed to get out, "I can understand a passion for heroes, but _this_?"

"I know, right?" Izuku spoke with chipper grin, unabashed. "Some of the merchandise you see here are some of my most prized material possessions. How could I not worship these heroes like they deserve?" He was not embarrassed by his excess of memorabilia. He had learned through Eijiro how to wear his passion on his sleeve.

"Fanboy." Itsuka smirked.

"Hey, if you're more into patterns, try Micchan's room. It's so loud, sometimes I think the pink-with-leopard-print wallpaper is _actually_ screeching at me." The named simply crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks out in irritation as Itsuka giggled. "Hey don't worry. You bring it together."

That brought her around surprisingly fast. Boy, what a flatterer she'd fallen for, huh? She suddenly perked up in thought. "Hey, we should hold a room showcasing contest sometime."

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea." Itsuka agreed, before looking slightly bashful. "Although, my room isn't exactly colorful."

"We should at least wait until the new student gets here." Izuku supplied helpfully. "We don't want anyone left out."

"Yeah," Mina agreed, "which means we'll have to wait for the dorm meeting too. Phooey."

"Well," the Quirk inheritor supplied helpfully, "on the bright side, we can try meeting everyone individually."

When the three walked out, they encountered Nicola, who seemed to be walking around with her head down, one of the few students left who was still wearing their school uniform, except her tie was untied. She lifted her head enough to acknowledge the three of them.

She looked like she had something weighing her down.

They couldn't just walk past that. Itsuka was the one to speak up. "Do you want to talk?"

The girl paused, seemingly regarding them with apprehension.

"I know we don't really know each other at all, but I think it would help to have someone to talk to.

Surrendering under the weight of her apparent doubts, she leaned against the wall, and slid down it when she could not stand up. "I … may have made a mistake coming here." The German girl admitted shamefully. "I got here based on recommendation. Did you know that?"

"I speculated." Izuku admitted. "We happened to see each other's entry places from the results of the practical, along with our own. I don't remember the name Nicola."

"That's right." Nicola confirmed. "I wasn't too surprised at first, but when they instruct me to demonstrate my Quirk, I'm even excused from taking the same tests as the other recommend students."

Izuku was slightly in awe of that. But he kept his head on the situation at hand. He could inquire as to the details later.

"And then I find out our teacher has the right to do as he pleases with us. The next thing I know I'm facing the same fate when I try to speak out, for one of the few times in my life. I deserved it though. I didn't even have anything to back up my little idea, just that he didn't have the authority, which I was obviously wrong about. Do I even …"

Izuku firmly planted a hand on the wall behind her.

"Stop." She was silenced by the surprisingly strength the boy had put into saying that, despite the soft tone. Behind him, Mina looked on knowingly, and Itsuka was a bit caught off guard herself. "You most certainly do. You _do_ deserve to be here. Because you _are_ here." He looked her directly in her eyes, and she looked back, at his iridescent orbs, which seemed to be glowing intensely with warmth she had never experienced in her life.

It was astonishing.

"You may think you're being logical, questioning your shortcomings, but doubting yourself will not do you any good. You'll only go down a blank path that has no end. So you made a mistake today. You have years to bury under loads of successes." **(5)**

"So let's do our best." He finished, extending a hand which she took to help him lift her up. Finally, she was standing back at her full height. "My name's Izuku Midoriya, by the way. It's nice to meet you."

"I-I'm Nicola Wilhelm." She said, smiling genuinely. "It's Nice to meet you too, Midoriya-san."

Behind them, Mina and Itsuka had decided that Izuku had this under control. "Well," Mina moved Itsuka along, who couldn't help but feel a slight pit in her stomach, "this is awesome and all, but you two seem to be having a moment, so we'll just move ahead. C'mon, Itsu-chan! Let's go meet our bros and bro-ettes."

"Uh, okay." The orangette agreed.

And just like that, the two of them were on their own, and as Izuku turned to look up at her, and was finally able to properly get a good look at her, it struck him. It struck him like a Detroit Smash to the gut: she was … Beautiful! She was a bit taller than him, and her face was slimmed down. The hair she had tied into a spiky ponytail was long and silky. The way she carried herself suggested a very sophisticated background, and her dark gray eyes shone. She was also very … well-endowed for someone their age, not that he was paying too much attention to that! He swore on his mother and father!

He hoped his cheeks didn't look as hot as they felt.

"So, uh, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is your Quirk?" He hoped finding out would distract him from the beauty of this … girl? Woman?

She paused for a moment before she turned away and told him. "I can create any non-living object, so long as I know its exact molecular structure.

Her heart clenched when she turned to see he was looking at her with a star-struck expression

"Holy woah! Memorizing all those formulas takes a lot of concentration! You've gotta be a genius! See, you deserve to be here. Not just anyone can truly wield a Quirk like that, especially to create some of the thing you made out there! And you scored second without breaking a sweat!"

"Right behind you." There was no jealousy or malice behind it. It was really just an observation. If she had to be more specific, she had to wonder why he was so impressed, in spite of out-scoring her. Granted, Creation was versatile by nature, but it lacked the raw power displayed by many other quirks, including Midoriya-san's. And he was correct when he said it took considerable mental effort.

"Well," He scratched the side of his head. "I sort of strained my body with a higher level of enhancement than it could handle without strain. But enough about that for one day. Come on." He gestured for her to follow him "Let's go meet our classmates."

"O-okay." She quickly followed behind him. This was nothing like the private schooling she had been receiving back in Germany. The other students were so … open. There was no reluctance to speak to one another, and no judgement of others for their quirks, or actual Quirk. True, some were more … her thoughts turned to the vulgar blonde with the pyrotechnical Quirk … volatile than others, but they weren't evaluating each other with every interaction.

And then there was this boy, Izuku Midoriya. No one had ever really told her she … could do anything. She'd really only ever been told what she was supposed to do. And when she finally did something right, it was just on to the next thing. No particular congratulation. She was just supposed to follow a set path: work hard, study hard, keep her parents' company alive. When her Quirk had developed, and she had figured out how she could use it, becoming a hero was the closest thing to her decision she had ever really had. She had not expected to make any friends upon entering. Was this … was this what it felt like?

 _Just like one of my romance novels._ She thought Idly

… _Oh_. **(5)**

* * *

 _ **About an Hour Later**_

 _ **Just outside the 1-A dorms**_

Comhghall Reagan did not know what to think right now.

Three weeks ago, he had gotten his acceptance letter into U.A. His dad and his sister were ecstatic to have heard the news. Just today, he had managed to stay awake during the dreaded entrance ceremony, and not make a fuckin' idiot of himself during orientation. Then he'd gone through a series of test where he couldn't find a way to apply his quirk – not that he had been worried – and before his first day had even ended, he got a notification from his teacher, Blood King, that he was now being transferred because apparently "that damn maniac had expelled someone again" to quote his _ex_ -homeroom teacher, and apparently he had been chosen to replace them in an agreement among the staff.

So basically, he recounted as he scowled at the dormitory for no particular reason, a bag slung over his shoulder among the many behind him, he'd be getting along with a different crowd from who he'd thought. Guess that was what he could think right now.

As he walked in he was greeted by the sight of three people on the couch playing a fighting game of some sort (Mortal Kombat, if he remembered right). A blonde dude with a black bolt in his hair, some ripped guy with a red spiky rock for a hairdo wearing a headband not unlike the ones he like wearing, and a string-bean of a guy with whale's teeth and swollen elbows. He saw a total alien of a chick with the pink skin and horns, upside down on one of the armchairs, and down the hallway came a short Japanese kid with green-and black curls, and a tall babe with a spiked pony tail.

Well, here goes nothin'.

"I'm Comhghall Reagan. Nice to meet ya." His tone did not suggest so.

Fortunately he apparently didn't screw up too bad, judging from how the bi-colored haired kid skipped up to him with a friendly wave and a smile that looked too real for a teenager. He idly noted he was only a ½ inch shorter than himself. "Oh! Hi! I'm Izuku Midoriya. Our teacher said we'd be getting a transfer replacement. Is that you by any chance?"

"Yeah, that's me." He gestured outside. "Could I get a hand moving my stuff in? I don't wanna be a pain in the ass walkin' back and forth."

"Oh certainly." Izuku took out a sheet that he had gotten from Hector for this same occasion, since they'd agreed he should be the one to greet their new mutual dorm mate. "Here's a map of the dorms, and this slip has your room's location on it. It's the same as the student whom you're replacing."

Izuku and Fumikage helped the circular-eyed boy move into the room that was supposed to have occupied by Mineta. It was a lot of heavy stuff; a wooden desk, an anvil, an electric guitar … but they didn't complain a bit, and the Weld user was openly thankful for that.

"So," he decided as long as the day was technically over, he should try to strike up a conversation, "what's the deal? Why'd the guy get expelled?"

"Did your class take an apprehension test too, by any chance?" Izuku asked. A short not was all the confirmation necessary. "Well, he placed at the bottom, and our homeroom teacher said last place had no potential for U.A."

"Well, shit." Comhghall couldn't stop himself. "I'm gonna love this guy, aren't I?"

"He's not quite so cold." Fumikage assured him, as Izuku had taught him to do for people. "It was actually for his own good. Being a hero is dangerous business. It's better if we are protected from it when we are not suited for it."

"Is it too late to transfer out?"

"For certain."

"Fuck."

* * *

 _ **Thirty Minutes Later**_

 _ **Common Room**_

The students were sitting in a sort of circle around the room, Mina having finally gathered them for the desired meet. It hadn't been too hard to convince Hector and Acantha, and the rest of the people Izuku knew personally were immediately on board. It was divided work to convince the rest.

"Hi hi, everyone!" Since we're gonna be roommates, I thought It'd be awesome if we got to know each other a bit more!" Okay, this was simple. Don't ask anything too personal. There is plenty to learn about someone without making them uncomfortable. These were things she had taken the time to learn, not everyone was as far-out as her. She could do this. "Let's introduce ourselves. We'll tell our names, our Quirks, and something else that's totes random. I'll go first. I'm Mina Ashido. My Quirk is Acid. I can secret acid from any part of my body and control its solubility, but if I secret from any body part too much, I lose my own resistance to it. I love natto and okra, and breakdancing, and I don't like bullies. I'm lookin' at you, Baku." For this, she received a double bird.

Izuku meanwhile, seeing this as the perfect chance to gather data on his primary allies for the rest of his school career, had whipped out his newest notebook, Hero Analysis for the future: Student Edition; Volume 1.

The first person after Mina to stand up was the blonde French boy with the sparkles about him. "Bien rencontré, everyone. I am Dior Beauregard. My Quirk is none other than the magnificent Navel Laser! It needs no explanation, save for that if I fire it continuously for too long, It hurts my tummy! My interest include mirrors, glitter, and all other fabulous things in this world … including myself, of course!" With that, he sat down, sparkling.

 _What the heck?_ Was everyone's simultaneous thought.

After Dior went Tsuyu. "Hello. I'm Tsuyu Asui. My Quirk is Frog, and as you can see, It gives me the appearance of a frog, and I can do basically what any species of frog can, including jumping, having a long tongue, and swimming good. I like rain and Jelly, and I say whatever's on my mind." With that, she sat back down.

Hector went next, standing as stiffly as ever. "I am called Hector Anderson! My Quirk is Engine. I can use the engines in my calves to enhance an aspect of my physical prowess based on what type of engine it is! For example, I can manifest an industrial engine for strength, or the engine of a motorcycle for speed! I enjoy studying, and Beef Stew! I hope we can all get along!" With that he sat down, and somehow managed to do _that_ stiffly too.

Once he had finished, Georgia stood up, seeming slightly fidgety. "Uh, hi. I'm Georgia Sherwood. My Quirk is Zero Gravity. I can remove the influence of gravity on any object by touching it. I can remove a total of 7 tons worth of gravity at once, but if I try any more, I get nauseous to the point of vomiting. I can lift myself, but it seems to have the same effect has trying to lift slightly more than my maximum, and I get dizzier the longer I hold it. Oh! And I can hold my maximum weight for about 2 minutes. As for something about myself, I like sweets, like mocchi. I hope we can all get along." She quickly sat down.

At the beginning of the next row, Itsuka stood up and smiled. "My name is Itsuka Kendou. My Quirk is…" she paused for a moment, before remembering she had decided to get it renamed, "… Giant fist. I can enlarge my hands to enormous sizes, turning them into huge blunt weapons. I can use them to lift heavy objects or entrap people between them. The thickened skin also makes them thick enough to stop knives. As for something about myself, I know seven different martial arts, and I enjoy motorcycles and black coffee. I hope we can all be friends." Well _that_ one was certainly a step up.

Right after her, the American boy with the black-streaked blonde hair seemingly jumped up, holding his hands at his sides in a "rock on" pose. "Wassup, everybody. I'm Derrick page. My Quirk's Electrification. I can cover myself in electricity and fry everything I touch, but I can also internalize it and increase my strength, my speed, and even my agility. But I can also release it all at once for a big shock! I enjoy fast food, and all things trending." He did a stage bow and sat back down, seeming rather impressed with himself, in contrast to everyone else, who noticed he hadn't stated his Quirk's drawback.

Next was Eijiro, who simply stood strong, and let out his purest shark-toothed grin. "Yo! The name's Eijiro Kirishima! And my Quirk: Hardening. I can make my whole body harder than cement, and most metals. I can ignore bullets, lift tons with my strength, and I'm resistant to the harsher elements, like fire or shocks. And I enjoy meat of any kind, and manly things of all kinds!" He crossed his arms and sat down, a satisfied grin on his lips.

Acantha stood up calmly, with her hands folded one over another. "Geia sas, everyone. My name is Acantha Euphemia. My Quirk is Vines. I can manipulate the vines that are my hair to my will. I can extend them several meters each, and do things such as grab objects, bind opponents, defend from attack, and use them for mobility in the same fashion as a spider's legs. I very much enjoy gardening." As if with practice, she sat down slowly, directly into her seat, without having to scoot into position; easily the most lady like way of sitting down any of them had ever seen.

The British boy, Solomon, got out of his seat rather casually, his hands in his pockets, and a serene smile on his face. "Greetings, my classmates. I am Solomon Arnold. My Quirk is Mimic. By touching someone, I can mimic any Quirk, even Mutant-class Quirks, for ten minutes for each I obtain. I can mimic up to three at once, at the cost of dividing time between them. I enjoy French cuisine and Franco-Belgian comics." And then he sat down. Some were rather suspicious about the lack of information.

Next stood the tall boy with the six arms, not betraying any emotion with any of his movements, save for uncertainty. Much to their surprise, he spoke from his _hand_ ; or rather, from a mouth where his left-middle hand used to be. "Hello, everyone. I am Simon Mathias. My Quirk is Dupli Arms. I can duplicate any part of my body onto my arms, including other limbs and sensory organs. I have no worldly desires, but I like takoyaki and squid ink pasta." He quickly sat down, as if to avoid probing.

Behind him, the Korean girl with the earphone jacks for earlobes stood up brusquely, not really seeming to care. "What's up. I'm Than Lan. My Quirk is Earphone Jack. I can pick up super low-key sounds, and I can also project sound waves from them with the frequency of my heart rate. I'm into music of all kinds, both playing and listening, but mostly rock and roll." She sat down, and went back to twirling on of her earlobes between her fingers.

Izuku could have sworn the boy next to her had bounced out of his seat. He was the Spanish boy, with a flat, grinning face full of whale's teeth and tape dispenser elbows. "Buenas, people, I'm Hernando Salvador. My Quirk is tape, and I can shoot tape of any kind from the dispensers in my elbows. The adhesive on it is fueled by my hydration, so if I shoot too much adhesive, my skin dries up. I love oranges, soy beans, and any other healthy-lookin' stuff." He sat down, looking quite relaxed for someone with such a comparatively lackluster quirk. Izuku totally understood though.

Fumikage stood up next, coolly as ever in Izuku's opinion. "I am called Fumikage Tokoyami. My Quirk is called Dark Shadow. I can manifest a life form of pure darkness from my body. My Dark Shadow is excellent for defense and offense, and even capable of rescue, provided he does not scare anyone. As a living creature, he possesses a measure of personality on which I would prefer not to elaborate. He becomes bigger and stronger in darkness, but harder to control. By contrast, he is small and weak in the light, but far easier to subdue. He is also capable of shape-shifting, provided he is big enough to match the object. I am partial to apples, dark places, and medieval paraphernalia." He quickly sat down as coolly as he stood up.

The British boy with the exotic red-and-blue hair and bi-chrome eyes stood stiffly, though not as much as Hector. Izuku couldn't help but feel that his eyes, gazing across the room, were looking _through_ everyone, like they didn't exist … or didn't matter. "I am called Samuel Brenton. This Quirk, half-hot-half-cold, allows me to generate fir from my left side ice from my right. I enjoy cold noodles." Was all he said before he sat back down. How strange, Izuku thought.

Izuku was not prepared for a female school uniform to float out of the couch. There was legitimately nothing distinguishing her except for the _lack_ of features. It was clear that she was invisible, and that she _was_ a she, but that was it. "Hi hi, everyone." And apparently she had a lot in common with Mina. "I'm Alaia Amets. My quirk is Invisibility. Guess what it does!" She teased. Yep, a whole lot like Mina. "But it works specifically by refracting light off my body, so when I eat stuff, it totally disappears. I like caramel and shows about hidden camera surprise pranks." There was no one else, Izuku decided as she jumped into her spot on the couch, who could grab so much attention both in spite of _and_ because of their innate power to be unseen. Except possibly Mina. Having such a big family was part of the reason for that.

Katsuki stood up next. Izuku was _not_ prepared for how formal he sounded. He sounded calm; as calm as someone like him could sound anyway. And while his eyes were scanning the room, just like the exotic Brenton (Where had he heard that name?), except he was looking at each and every one of them. _What?_ "My name is Katsuki Bakugo. My Quirk is called Explosion, but that's an oversimplification of what it actually does." Okay… was he about to actually elaborate on his powers, instead of just brag about how awesome it was? "I generate sweat with nitroglycerin properties and ignite it on my palms to create explosions, which is where the name comes from I can use it to create overwhelming area-of effect type attacks, blast it behind me to propel myself, or just use the light for an effect similar to a flash bang. I like spicy food and hiking." Okay, now Kacchan was starting to scare him. He wasn't loud, he wasn't boasting, and he wasn't even setting his quirk off to prove a point. Was he really acting like a civilized member of socie-… "And I'm gonna be number one here. No matter what it takes. So don't try getting in my way."

Oh thank All Might. Kacchan was starting to scare him.

This was it, Izuku thought standing up. This was his chance to make a good impression on his classmates. It was also a chance to put the story behind his Quirk to the test. With that in mind, he stood up, folded his hands like Acantha, and wore his most genuine smile. "Hello everyone. My name is Izuku Midoriya. My Quirk is called Prowess. It is an internal energy source that I use to enhance myself, including strength, speed, and endurance. More specific enhancements include my lung capacity, to allow me to inhale or exhale greater amounts of air. I can also project bursts of energy as a ranged move, and I can control the energy even then. I enjoy note-taking, katsudon, video games, and collecting hero merchandise. I hope we can all get along." Still wearing the smile, he sat back down.

The Irish boy with the circular eyes and the head band stood off the floor. Izuku couldn't help but think the way he waylays scowled was similar to Kacchan's "Hey everybody, I'm Comhghall Reagan, and my Quirk is Weld. I can fuse two objects together at the atomic level, or any level that comes before it, but only if I touch both objects. I can merge a total equal to what takes up the same amount of space as an RV. The welding lasts about as long as if it were done by an actual blowtorch, that is to say it'd have to be broken off, if someone can manage that. If I do too much welding, or if the objects are too big, I overheat. And I'm really into mobile games." He sat down unceremoniously.

Nicola stood up last; standing with her hands folded one over another, just like Acantha and Izuku. "I am Nicola Wilhelm. My Quirk is called Creation. I can make any non-living objects as long as I have sufficient lipids stored in my body, as they are the source for my materials. I have to understand the exact chemical composition of the object I am creating, or it will not be produced, and it will be physically incomplete if I do not have enough body fats. I love reading Encyclopedias, particularly of the illustrated variety." And she, just like Acantha, somehow _elegantly_ sat down.

After that, everyone found some to talk to, except for Samuel and Than Lan, who had decided they would rather spend the remainder of their days in their rooms.

"Dude, you can electrify yourself?" That's manly!"

"Turning into a living rock is pretty cool too! Hey, wanna finish our Mortal Kombat rounds?"

"You are friends with Midoriya-san?" Acantha Incquired to Tsuyu.

"Indeed. And you're the one he told us about who spoke for him after exams?"

"I just wanted to do something for him after what he'd done for all of us, Asui-san."

"Call me Tsuyu. Kero."

"Oh? Okay … Tsuyu." Acantha allowed herself a small smile.

Izuku, meanwhile, had decided to learn a bit more about Nicola. He had finally realized that she was actually sitting right next to him, seeming a bit too red in the face.

"I … look forward to the time we will spend together, Midoriya-san."

Izuku smiled. This was going to be an awesome four years. "Call me Izuku, Wilhelm-san."

* * *

 **So, I ended this long-ass chapter on** _ **that**_ **note. Any forming bonds you know from canon** **will also exist. I will only actively indicate otherwise interactions.**

 **(1) Credit for Izuku's 4** **th** **Quirk goes to Discard205, who is apparently a big fan of Kenichi: History's Mightiest Disciple. I ought to check that out some time.**

 **(2) Credit for Izuku's 9** **th** **Quirk goes to Shogun lord poke burst, who suggested it via PM. Thanks, dude. Since it was technically Izuku's Quirk, I decided to introduce it in a way similar to the original introduction of his One for All: Defeating the big one in a single shot, and more power than his body could take.**

 **(3) Admit it. You were a little curious where everyone else placed.**

 **(4) I will admit, the way I phrased Mineta's expulsion was inspired by the same scene from For Want of Izuku's Toe Joint by Raeigh, but the fact that it happened at all was my idea too. Why isn't anyone else doing this? Come on, you guys!**

 **(5) Courtesy of inspiration by Epsilon110's Total Command, who I am now giving this story a belated Dedication to. I have very few original ideas, but a whole lot of desires.**

 **For those of you who didn't notice, I made the effort to not use up words on displays of Quirks that were already in Canon. This Chapter is already nauseatingly lengthy.**

 **Katsuki** **Bakugou**

 **Age: 15**

 **Gender: Male**

 **Height: 172 cm / 5' 9"**

 **Weight: 77 kgs / 170 lbs.**

 **Eyes: Red**

 **Hair: Ash Blonde, Spiky**

 **Nationality: Japanese**

 **Date of Birth: April 20** **th**

 **Handedness: Right**

 **Blood Type: A**

 **Likes: Spicy food, Hiking**

 **Dislikes: Losing, Izuku Midoriya, getting help, Deku Midoriya, sameness, that fucking nerd Deku, admitting he's lost, DEKU!**

 **Character Theme: Sick Puppies – One of Us is Going Down**

 **Quirk: Explosion - Katsuki's Quirk allows him to secrete nitroglycerin-like sweat from his palms and detonate it at will. The more Katsuki sweats, the stronger his explosions become. Katsuki usually uses small, powerful explosions from his hands to not only blast his opponents but to propel himself and navigate through the air as well. His thick skin – developed through repeatedly destroying himself through continuous release of blasts until the point it no longer affected him – allow him to withstand the force of his blasts. He cannot create explosions if he cannot sweat, and thus has issues fighting in lower-temperature environments. Also, Katsuki's largest explosions damage the nerves in his hands, leaving him less capable of using them each time.**

 **Costume: A fitted black sleeveless V-neck tank top with an orange X with the top half borders his shirt collar. A seemingly metallic neck brace fashioned and used as a collar with three holes in both sides. Sleeves reach from within large grenade-like gauntlets to biceps. Belt, which also carries grenades, holds up baggy pants with knee guards. Underneath guards are black, knee-high combat boots with orange soles and eyelets. Hero mask has large, flare-shaped cloth.**

 **Fighting Style: Close/ Medium Range**

 _ **Skills:**_

 **Enhanced Strength:** **Katsuki possesses an above average physical strength. He is able to use his Grenade Bracers without any recoil due to his strength.**

 **Keen Intellect:** **Despite looking like he'd just be a punk with no brains, Katsuki has proven to be extremely smart and strategic. Even Pro Heroes have mentioned several times his great potential and battle-sense. Shota Aizawa stated that it is in battle where Katsuki shines his brightest. He is considered a natural born genius.**

 **Musical Talent:** **Katsuki is highly skilled at playing a drum kit, having gone through classes in the past.**

 **Krav Maga: To compliment his style of fighting both with and without his quirk, Katsuki has become practiced in this deadly art which involves simultaneous offense and defense, repeatable strikes, preemptive and counterattacking, weak point striking, and maintaining awareness of surroundings.**

 _ **Special Moves:**_

 **Blast Rush Turbo** **: Katsuki throws his hands back and uses explosions to propel himself. He uses this both on the ground to increase his speed and through the air to achieve a pseudo form of flight. He first used this technique on the ground during the Quirk Apprehension Test. The first time he used it to fly was during the Obstacle Race.**

 **Stun Grenade** **: Katsuki starts by creating a sphere of light between his hands that explodes into a large scale flash. Similar to the effect of an actual stun grenade, the flash of light blinds anyone close by. He first used this technique to defeat Fumikage Tokoyami.**

 **Zero Distance Stun Grenade** **: A variation where Katsuki fires off his Stun Grenade at point blank range of the opponent to immediately stun and immobilize them with little lasting damage.**

 **Howitzer Impact** **: Katsuki takes to the air and uses explosions to propel himself in a circular motion to create a tornado. This tornado builds up oxygen to fuel the incoming explosion. After colliding with the ground, Katsuki releases the powerful aforementioned explosion.**

 **AP Shot** **: Katsuki stretches out one of his hands and uses his other hand to form a circle on the palm of his outstretched hand. Katsuki then fires an explosion through the circle, which creates a concentrated blast beam. By focusing the path of his explosions into a single point instead of around his whole palm, Katsuki creates a concentrated blast with reduced area of impact, but with enough power to successfully pierce solid concrete.**

 **AP Shot: Auto-Cannon** **: A rapid-fire version of his AP Shot Technique. The explosion power is reduced in order to avoid dealing severe damage to human targets.**

 **Explode-A-Pult** **: While in mid-air, Katsuki grabs an opponent with one of his arms, then propels himself in a spinning motion by firing explosions with his free arm. Once he gains enough momentum, Katsuki forcefully throws his opponent with the aid of another explosion.**

 **Stats**

 **Power - 5/5;**

 **Speed - 4/5; B**

 **Technique - 5/5; A**

 **Intelligence - 4/5; B**

 **Cooperativeness - 1/5; E**


End file.
